US Senate Bans Members, Staff from Prediction Markets

The US Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution banning its members and staff, who are often exposed to sensitive information, from using prediction markets.

The resolution, passed by unanimous consent, changed the Senate’s rules and took immediate effect. 

“Engaging in any way in a prediction market or trying to place bets where we might have inside information deteriorates the confidence that our constituents have in us,” Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, who introduced the resolution, said on the Senate floor.

“By changing the standing rules of the Senate, what we’re doing is allowing our constituents to know, once and for all, that no member of the United States Senate, no member of the staff of the United States Senate, can ever use that inside information as a way to monetize this job whatsoever,” he added.

Source: Bernie Moreno

The resolution comes after a special forces soldier involved in the plan to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged last week, on April 23, with using classified information to make bets on Polymarket, as lawmakers also air concerns over well-timed bets on the Iran war. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that “of all the issues we debate in Washington, this falls clearly in the category of a ‘no-brainer.’”

“We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino where members representing the public can gamble on wars, or economic crises, or elections,” he said.

Related: Insider trading backlash forces Polymarket to step up surveillance

“We should go further; this is a good start, but not enough,” Schumer said. “The administration and its employees must apply these very same rules too, particularly this administration, which shows such a troubling affinity to corruption and self-dealing.”

Republican Representative Ashley Hinson posted to X that she would introduce a similar resolution to ban the use of prediction markets in the House.

Polymarket posted on X that it fully supported the Senate resolution and its terms of service “already prohibit such conduct, but codifying this into law is a step forward for the industry.”

Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of rival prediction market platform Kalshi, also celebrated the resolution in a post on X, adding that it “already proactively blocks members of Congress and enforces against insider trading.”

Magazine: How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and Kalshi

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