The U.S. Senate Bans Senators and Staff from Participating in Prediction Market Betting

BlockBeats News, May 1st, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a new rule proposed by Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, prohibiting senators and their staff from engaging in prediction market betting, with the related restrictions taking immediate effect.

According to the new rule, senators are not allowed to participate in any contracts and agreements that involve "payment, transaction, or settlement based on whether a specific event occurs and the degree of the outcome," covering speculative activities such as political prediction markets. Moreno stated that "Congress members should not be receiving taxpayer salaries on one hand and participating in speculative activities such as prediction markets on the other."

In recent years, the popularity of political prediction markets has risen rapidly, and platforms such as Polymarket have come under scrutiny due to insider trading disputes and regulatory issues. Polymarket responded to this by expressing support for the Senate's action and stating that their platform rules already prohibit such behavior, saying that "writing it into law is a further step for the industry."