Prediction markets are out of control — Congress must act to ban insider trades now

Some bets should stay between you and your friends — and bets by public officials tasked with stewarding the public interest should not be placed at all. The sheer volume of activity on prediction markets, through which individuals can place bets on the outcome of future events, provides perfect cover for traders seeking to profit on insider information.   

Concerns about insider trading on these markets have been growing for months, coming to a pivotal point in April when U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyle was charged with allegedly using confidential government information to bet on Polymarket, a prediction marketplace. Van Dyke profited more than $400,000 by wagering on an event contract related to the ousting of Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, an operation in which he was personally involved.  

Besides this charge, individuals with insider knowledge are clearly betting on political events. Two separate, notable instances of political trading teetered on the line of corruption. Kalshi discovered three congressional candidates traded on their own elections on the platform, and an anonymous trader secured a profit of more than $300,000 from correctly betting on four individuals getting pardoned by former President Joe Biden. Four out of many possibilities.  

These developments have left the public unsettled and frustrated, as those responsible for national security and the well-being of the public use insider knowledge on government decisions to exploit their office for private gain.  

The public should not have to wonder whether federal officials are focused on the public interest or........

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