US Consultant Ritchie Torres is getting ready to introduce laws geared toward curbing insider buying and selling on prediction markets, following scrutiny round a extremely worthwhile wager tied to the sudden seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
In a Sunday publish on X, Punchbowl Information founder Jake Sherman stated Torres plans to introduce the Public Integrity in Monetary Prediction Markets Act of 2026. The invoice would prohibit federal elected officers, political appointees and government department staff from buying and selling prediction market contracts linked to authorities coverage or political outcomes after they have nonpublic data by way of their official duties.
“The restriction applies to purchasing, promoting, or exchanging prediction market contracts tied to authorities coverage, authorities motion, or political outcomes on platforms engaged in interstate commerce,” Sherman stated, citing a supply accustomed to the matter.
The invoice mirrors current insider buying and selling requirements in conventional monetary markets however would prolong them to the prediction market sector.
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Wager on Maduro’s ouster turns into $400,000 in a single day
The proposal comes days after a newly created account on Polymarket positioned roughly $32,000 on a contract predicting Maduro’s elimination from energy by Jan. 31, 2026. Hours later, US forces reportedly captured the Venezuelan chief, sending the contract to settlement and netting the dealer greater than $400,000 in revenue.
The account had restricted prior exercise, with the Maduro commerce accounting for the overwhelming majority of its good points, elevating extra suspicions about whether or not somebody might need exploited political or army data by way of the prediction platform.
In response to Sherman’s publish, Kalshi’s press relations account stated its guidelines prohibit insiders or decision-makers from buying and selling on materials nonpublic data.
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Polymarket blames third-party software for account breaches
As Cointelegraph reported, studies of account breaches surfaced this week after a number of Polymarket customers stated their balances have been drained following suspicious login makes an attempt. Customers on Reddit and X described seeing a number of unauthorized login makes an attempt earlier than their positions have been closed and funds lowered to close zero, regardless of no indicators of compromise on their gadgets or different providers.
In response, Polymarket stated it recognized and stuck a safety problem attributable to a vulnerability launched by a third-party authentication supplier. The corporate stated the issue affected solely a small variety of customers, has been absolutely remediated, and poses no ongoing threat, including that impacted customers might be contacted.
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