US Representative Proposes Banning Candidates From Trading Prediction Market Contracts Linked to Their Own Elections

According to CNBC, U.S. Democratic Representative Don Davis of North Carolina introduced the "Ban on Betting on Your Own Election Act" on Monday, which proposes to ban federal public office candidates from trading contracts related to their own elections on prediction markets. Violators will face a fine of $10,000 or three times the net profit from the trade, whichever is higher. The proposal stems from Davis' Republican election opponent Laurie Buckhout, who was previously penalized by prediction market platform Kalshi. Buckhout reached a settlement with the platform in August for trading contracts related to her own candidacy, paying a fine of just under $2,600 and being suspended from Kalshi for three years. She said at the time: "I bet on myself, that's exactly what I did. That was a stupid mistake." Prediction market platforms had previously already imposed self-restrictions on candidates trading contracts related to their own elections to guard against insider trading. Davis hopes to formalize these relevant restrictions into law. However, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are scheduled to resume sessions only after the midterm elections, so the bill is almost impossible to implement during this election cycle. The Senate passed a resolution in April banning senators and their staff from participating in prediction market trading, but it did not cover non-incumbent senatorial candidates.