Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) introduced an amendment on Tuesday to prevent insider trading by any U.S. government official on prediction markets. The move comes after a series of suspiciously well-timed bets on military actions in Iran and Venezuela.
In a post on X, Slotkin pointed to traders on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market, who placed perfectly-timed wagers linked to U.S. military operations. Blockchain analysis revealed that six suspected insider accounts made $1.2 million betting the U.S. would strike Iran by Feb. 28. The most suspicious account alone made $494,374 on that bet.
And it's not just Iran. A U.S. soldier was charged last month with allegedly using classified information to profit from a Polymarket bet tied to the capture of Venezuela's ousted leader, Nicolás Maduro.
“Just nine Polymarket accounts have made over $2.4 million by betting on military operations with a 98% success rate,” Slotkin stated.
Slotkin, a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee, said she introduced the amendment to enforce restrictions on government officials using insider information for prediction market trades. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution last month banning senators, officers, and staff from participating in prediction markets. Slotkin wants that ban extended to the entire executive branch.
This isn't Slotkin's first swing at the issue. She, along with Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and John Curtis (R-Utah), introduced bipartisan legislation on prediction market insider trading back in March.
The amendment comes amid intense scrutiny of prediction markets. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has repeatedly called for an investigation into suspected insider trading in bets tied to Iran strikes.
