US Representative Ritchie Torres is preparing a new bill to prevent government officials from using private information to profit from prediction markets.
The decision follows concerns over a recent trade that generated large profits linked to reports of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
According to journalist Jake Sherman, who shared details on X, Torres will propose the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026.
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The legislation would prevent members of Congress, political appointees, and executive branch employees from trading on contracts tied to political or policy outcomes if they have access to confidential information through their work.
Sherman explained that the restriction “applies to buying, selling, or exchanging prediction market contracts tied to government policy, government action, or political outcomes on platforms engaged in interstate commerce”.
The proposal aims to apply insider trading standards, long used in financial markets, to prediction market platforms.
The renewed focus on prediction markets followed a report that a new Polymarket account placed roughly $32,000 on a contract predicting Maduro’s removal from power by January 31, 2026.
Later, reports surfaced that US forces had captured Maduro, which pushed the contract to settle and earned the trader over $400,000 in profit.
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