U.S. lawmakers are moving to stop members of Congress from trading on crypto-linked prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi. The Senate has already acted: on April 30, 2026, senators unanimously approved a rule banning senators and their staff from trading on prediction markets, and the restriction took effect immediately. The House is now preparing its own version.
House effort would add prediction-market rules to a stock-trading bill
Representative Bryan Steil is working with House Republican leadership to attach prediction-market restrictions to H.R. 7008. That bill would bar members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents from buying individual stocks, while also requiring lawmakers to disclose an intent to sell at least 7 days before a transaction is completed. The measure has already cleared committee and been placed on the House calendar, with Steil expecting a possible vote this summer.
Under the proposal, violations would trigger penalties of $2,000 or 10% of the investment value, whichever is greater. Other proposals are also in play. The PREDICT Act would extend the restriction to the president, vice president, and all 535 members of Congress. Representative Ritchie Torres’s Campaign Funds Integrity Act of 2026 would target the use of campaign funds for prediction-market gambling, with penalties of up to five years in prison.
Why lawmakers are under scrutiny
The concern is unusually direct. Prediction markets price outcomes tied to elections, legislation, policy decisions, and other real-world events. Members of Congress can hold non-public information about those outcomes, and in some cases they can influence the result itself through their official actions.
The source article points to concrete cases. Kalshi suspended and fined one U.S. Senate candidate and two House candidates for trading on their own campaigns while holding non-public information. In another case, a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant was charged in an indictment alleging he used classified information tied to the operation involving Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to place bets on Polymarket. Those cases turned a theoretical conflict into a visible enforcement issue.
Polymarket and Kalshi are backing the restrictions
The unusual twist is that the platforms named in the debate are not opposing the restrictions. Polymarket said it was “in full support,” adding that its own rulebook and terms of service already prohibit such conduct. Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour also said the company already blocks members of Congress and enforces against insider trading.
For the platforms, the larger threat is not losing a small pool of politically connected users. It is the risk that prediction markets are viewed as venues where insiders profit from privileged access. Supporting a ban lets the companies argue that they want cleaner markets and clearer standards as they seek broader regulatory legitimacy.