Bipartisan Bill Seeks To Ban Sports Betting On Prediction Market Platforms

Bipartisan Bill Seeks To Ban Sports Betting On Prediction Market Platforms 24 An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT) introduced (PDF) a bill on Monday that could prevent prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket from allowing users to wager money on sports events or play casino-style games. This bipartisan bill would not apply to FanDuel and DraftKings, which are subject to state-by-state gambling laws, rather than federal ones. "Sports prediction contracts are sports bets -- just with a different name. And yet, these contracts are currently offered in all fifty states in clear violation of state and federal law," Schiff said in a statement. Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is why Schiff and Curtis are able to address them under federal jurisdiction, rather than leaving them to state-regulated sportsbooks. But these senators argue that there isn't much of a difference in practice between betting on sports via federally or state-regulated apps. Kalshi's Super Bowl trading volume, for instance, reached over $1 billion this year -- a 2700% increase year-over-year. "Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators," Curtis said in a statement. The report notes that Kalshi is temporarily banned in Nevada and is facing criminal charges in Arizona. "Kalshi may brand itself as a 'prediction market,' but what it's actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement last week. Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is why Schiff and Curtis are able to address them under federal jurisdiction, rather than leaving them to state-regulated sportsbooks. But these senators argue that there isn't much of a difference in practice between betting on sports via federally or state-regulated apps. Kalshi's Super Bowl trading volume, for instance, reached over $1 billion this year -- a 2700% increase year-over-year. "Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators," Curtis said in a statement. The report notes that Kalshi is temporarily banned in Nevada and is facing criminal charges in Arizona. "Kalshi may brand itself as a 'prediction market,' but what it's actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement last week. All it takes in our economy (Score:2) All it takes in our economy is a little grease and rules don't matter. There's an entire class of people that think that as long as Trump is never punished, they can do anything they want. After all, a pardon is $2M. Re: (Score:2) Meanwhile today Donald Trump was talking about a bill he wanted to pass and halfway through his sentence he stopped talking about the bill and started talking about a random non-existent person named Bill. I know if you put enough drugs in him he can stay cognizant for long enough to make it through important speeches but can you imagine i need to ban Predictions on voteing and war as well (Score:3) need to ban Predictions on voteing and war as well! Re: (Score:2) Or really, just ban the entire site altogether. Why do we need to gamble on all this stuff in the first place? It puts in a lot of perverse incentives and it's not good for our society. It's especially toxic in that it's advertised to our teenagers/young adults who's minds are not yet developed and struggle to make informed decisions. Re: (Score:2) Or really, just ban the entire site altogether. Why do we need to gamble on all this stuff in the first place? It puts in a lot of perverse incentives and it's not good for our society. It's especially toxic in that it's advertised to our teenagers/young adults who's minds are not yet developed and struggle to make informed decisions. Alcohol isn't good for our society, so let's ban it. Neither are cigarettes. Neither are Doritos, Tostitos, or any other itos. Same with chips. High in fat and cholesterol. Certainly they aren't good either. While we're at it, let's ban cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, marijuana and all other such drugs. Re: (Score:2) With gambling (yes this is exactly the same as placing money on a prediction) there is no commerce and NO PRODUCT to purchase, it's gambling. IMHO gambling should not be allowed to cross state lines - so these predatory companies should only be allowed to operate in their home state of NEW YORK. Re: (Score:2) Gambling needs to be for games and nothing else or there is far too much incentive to interfere with the events being gambled on. It is inherently dangerous to our ability to understand what is going on. It actually is bad for society in a way that should be absolutely banned. Re: (Score:2) Predictions markets get you stuff like this. https://cointelegraph.com/news... [cointelegraph.com] Journalist getting threatened with death. But sure, that really compares to: Alcohol isn't good for our society, so let's ban it. Neither are cigarettes. Neither are Doritos, Tostitos, or any other itos. Same with chips. High in fat and cholesterol. Certainly they aren't good either. While we're at it, let's ban cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, marijuana and all other such drugs. Re: (Score:2) Tell you what, chief - when someone starts making death threats to reporters because they write a story about someone buying a dime bag, you might have a point. Because that's happening with this illegal gambling. You are mixing unregulated gambling, addiction, and financial instruments all in one very bad cocktail. People are arguably already participating through criminal means (insider information, etc.) probably aren't going to get shy about doing other criminal acts if they can figure out how to do it Re: (Score:2) How about we lock these fuckers up with the wall street gamblers too. No, I don't need your exposition about market liquidity; you are the fucking problem if you are thinking this way. Re: (Score:2) Re: (Score:2) This idea that you can just declare yourself a prediction market and therefore above state law is cuckoo bananas. 1. Raise venture capital for a online business scheme that would otherwise be illegal (flouting labor laws, dumping e-scooters all over a city, gambling, etc.). 2. Use some of the money you made to bribe politicians, so now your idea is legal. 3. Profit! halfway measures (Score:3) commercial betting needs to be banned in its entirety and without any exceptions Unfinished Work, D+ (Score:3) Ban prediction markets, you craven morons. Gambling should at a casino (Score:2) If you're going to gamble away your kids' college savings you should at least be required to put on pants. Re: (Score:2) As bad as it is, (Score:2) Oh, you won’t do that, eh? Office sports betting was my favorite example (Score:2) Office sports betting is illegal yet at every big company I worked for these betting sheets went around every season with management and the rest distributing them. This was my favorite example of how white collar crime is treated compared to blue collar. At every level the people who should stop it instead felt it was a harmless office game and thus not worthy of any application of the rules. One dude was dropping over a grand on these while his kids went without coats. Like a closeted gambler and he was br Irrelevant (Score:1) Meanwhile... (Score:3) What are the odds of it passing? (Score:2) Put me down for 20. Allowing online gambling was such a mistake. (Score:2) It's ruining sports across the board for many people, and I really hate that it's leaked out of Vegas the way that it has. Nothing like seeing FanDuel and Draft Kings ads on what feels like every sporting event under the sun. I'm so sick of seeing gambling advertisements.