30 Congress members support bill to block political insider trading after Maduro Polymarket controversy

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Polymarket and Ritchie Torres composite.

Thirty Congress members have supported a invoice that might stop federal officers and political workers from utilizing prediction markets that could possibly be influenced by insider data.

After an nameless Polymarket person cashed out with over $400,000 on a commerce associated to the operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, concerns were raised that the bet was placed using insider information. Now in a launch seen by ReadWrite, Consultant Ritchie Torres has launched the Public Integrity in Monetary Prediction Markets Act of 2026 into the Home of Representatives, gaining help from 30 Members of Congress.

Dark blue background with two screenshots from Instagram reels side by side of Rep Ritchie Torres speaking close to the camera. Kalshi CEO says they're supportive of proposal to ban government officials from insider trading — Ritchie Torres speaks on digital camera about alleged insider buying and selling on prediction markets. Credit score: Rep. Ritchie Torres / Instagram

The bill would prohibit federal elected officers, political appointees, Government Department workers, and congressional workers from shopping for, promoting, or exchanging prediction market contracts tied to authorities coverage, authorities motion, or political outcomes when they’re aware of personal data or might moderately receive such data via their work.

Kalshi CEO, Tarek Mansour, beforehand mentioned he would support a bill that would ban government officials from utilizing prediction markets.

Congress help comes from the left

Assist for the invoice comes from the Democrats, with co-sponsors together with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi amongst many others.

“Probably the most corrupt nook of Washington DC could be the intersection of prediction markets and the federal authorities, the place insider buying and selling and self-dealing are not imagined dangers however demonstrated risks,” mentioned Consultant Torres. “We ignore this plain-sight corruption at our personal peril. Think about, for a second, a member of the Trump Administration have been to put a wager predicting an occasion just like the removing of Nicolás Maduro.

“As each a authorities insider and a participant within the prediction markets, that particular person would face a perverse incentive to personally push insurance policies that line his pockets. Prediction-market profiteering by authorities insiders have to be prohibited – interval.”

Torres went on to particularly point out President Donald Trump “utilizing crypto to counterpoint himself and his family“.

“There may be motive to worry that Trump or his associates might do the identical in terms of prediction markets,” he continued. “No elected official is elected to revenue from elected workplace. Authorities just isn’t a for-profit enterprise; it’s a public belief. It doesn’t belong to the elected officers. It belongs to the individuals who elect them.”

In gentle of latest betting exercise surrounding the seize of President Nicolás Maduro, I’ve critical considerations about @Polymarket’s capacity, and willingness, to adjust to @CFTC laws.

I’m demanding solutions from Polymarket CEO @shayne_coplan relating to the safeguards… pic.twitter.com/fHpjLpsykG

— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) January 9, 2026

On the similar time, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, who’s been pushing to reform playing legal guidelines via her FAIR BET Act, despatched a letter to Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan asking some robust questions. She needs to know what safeguards the corporate has in place to cease insider buying and selling and ensure its markets are being run pretty and transparently.

Within the correspondence, she wrote: “Within the days resulting in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s seize, merchants on Polymarket positioned sizable wagers on a contract predicting whether or not Maduro would depart workplace earlier than the tip of January 2026. One wager, reportedly of $32,000, resulted in earnings exceeding $400,000. Whereas it stays unclear whether or not these wagers constituted insider buying and selling, their timing raises critical questions and highlights the necessity for strong surveillance, compliance, and enforcement mechanisms.”

Featured picture: Polymarket / Wikimedia Commons licensed underneath CC BY-SA 4.0

The publish 30 Congress members support bill to block political insider trading after Maduro Polymarket controversy appeared first on ReadWrite.

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