US Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Ban Politically-Related Prediction Bets

New York Representative Ritchie Torres, with the backing of more than 30 other Democrats in the House of Representatives, has introduced legislation following a Polymarket user netting $400,000 on a bet related to the removal of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

In a Friday notice, Torres he had introduced the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026.

According to the New York representative, the bill would prohibit “federal elected officials, political appointees, Executive Branch employees, and congressional staff from buying, selling, or exchanging prediction market contracts tied to government policy, government action, or political outcomes when they possess material nonpublic information or could reasonably obtain such information through their official duties.”

“The most corrupt corner of Washington, DC may well be the intersection of prediction markets and the federal government — where insider trading and self-dealing are no longer imagined risks but demonstrated dangers,” said Torres. “We ignore this plain-sight corruption at our own peril.”

The bill came less than a week after a Polymarket account placed a $32,000 bet on a contract predicting that Maduro would be removed from power by Jan. 31. US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that US forces had entered Venezuela and captured Maduro to face criminal charges in New York.

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The bet, which netted the unknown user more than $400,000, on the platform. In introducing the bill, Torres signaled that allowing an elected official to use platforms like Polymarket or Kalshi could incentivize him to “personally push policies that line his pockets.”

“Just as Donald Trump has been using crypto to enrich himself and his family, there is reason to fear that Trump or his associates could do the same when it comes to prediction markets,” said Torres. “No elected official is elected to profit from elected office.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Polymarket for comment on the bill, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

As Torres’ bill is considered in the House, lawmakers in the Senate are expected to hold a markup on digital asset market structure legislation.

The bill, passed as the CLARITY Act in the House in July and called the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the Senate, is expected to be one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation affecting the crypto industry by changing the regulatory roles of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said the committee will hold a markup of the market structure bill on Thursday, potentially advancing it to a floor vote.

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