US bill seeks to ban military staff from prediction market betting

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has drafted a defense authorization bill that would prohibit U.S. military or Department of Defense employees from betting on prediction markets using non-public information, CNN reported. The move was prompted by the recent indictment of a U.S. special forces member for placing a large bet on Polymarket just before an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The proposed ban would extend to non-classified, non-public information. Amid recurring suspicions of insider trading on prediction markets surrounding geopolitical events, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also vowed a crackdown, though concerns have been raised about staffing shortages. The U.S. Senate and some House offices have already banned their aides from using prediction markets, while California and Illinois have issued executive orders prohibiting state officials from using inside information for such betting.