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Following Monday's news that two lawmakers had introduced legislation that would prevent prediction markets from offering sports event contracts, market leaders Kalshi and Polymarket were quick to introduce guardrails.
Kalshi said it would ban political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, and it would preemptively block anyone involved in college or professional sports from trading contracts related to the sports they play or are employed by.
“We’re launching new technological guardrails that preemptively block politicians, athletes, and other relevant people from trading in certain politics and sports markets,” Bobby DeNault, Head of Enforcement and Legal Counsel at Kalshi, wrote in a blog post published to the company’s site. “These efforts, which have been in the works for months, proactively address the CFTC’s guidance and Congressional bill proposals to prevent insider trading.”
Polymarket instituted a broader ban than Kalshi. The company rewrote its rules to say clearly that users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information or could influence the outcome of an event. This would include athletes but could also include company officials, policymakers or anyone who would have enough influence to affect the outcome of an event or know the information in advance.
Utah Sen. John Curtis and California Sen. Adam Schiff are leading a bipartisan push to prevent prediction markets from offering trading on sports.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed prediction markets’ latest move to curb insider training as “absolutely not enough” amid mounting criticism of these platforms within Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez took to X, sharing her thoughts on an article announcing Kalshi’s new guardrails.
“This is absolutely not enough,” she wrote. “Just on the policy piece alone, there are SO many individuals—staff, advisors, consultants, cabinet secretaries, spouses, and more—that can trade on insider information. This is just a fig leaf to deflect from criticism. We need to do more.”
The Guardian has previously reported that eight Polymarket accounts, created while U.S. President Donald Trump was still making comments doubling down on the war with Iran, bet approximately $70,000 in total on a ceasefire being reached by March 31. $23 million has been bet on a March 31 ceasefire with nearly 85% backing the NO as of Monday night.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
