Lawmakers Adam Schiff (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT) unveiled legislation this Monday, aiming to deter prediction market platforms, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, from enabling individuals to bet funds on athletic competitions or partake in casino-esque entertainment.
This cross-party legislation would not extend to FanDuel and DraftKings, as they are governed by individual state gaming regulations, instead of national ones.
“Agreements for sports predictions are essentially sports wagers — simply bearing an alternative label. Nevertheless, these agreements are presently accessible across all fifty states, overtly infringing upon both state and national statutes,” Schiff declared in an official communication.
Betting has gained greater importance within American society following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that enabled states to authorize sports wagering. The aggregate amount of sports bets expanded from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023. A majority of significant professional sports organizations now hold agreements with gaming corporations, even as prominent athletes confront potential incarceration for their supposed involvement in schemes to launder money.
Forecasting platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket operate under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), explaining why Schiff and Curtis can tackle their regulation at the federal level, instead of deferring to state-supervised sports wagering establishments. However, these legislators contend that, practically, there’s little distinction between placing wagers on sports through applications controlled by federal or state authorities. Kalshi’s transaction volume for the Super Bowl, for instance, exceeded $1 billion this year — marking a 2700% surge compared to the previous year.
“An excessive number of young individuals in Utah are encountering habit-forming sports wagering and casino-esque gaming agreements that ought to be governed by state oversight, rather than federal supervisory bodies,” Curtis articulated in a declaration.
The worries expressed by Curtis regarding problem gambling are valid. Scholars at the Qualcomm Institute and School of Medicine at the University of California San Diego examined data from online search queries and observed that once internet sports wagering platforms became accessible, queries seeking assistance for gambling dependency rose by 61% and have persisted in their ascent thereafter.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026
Elisabeth Diana, a representative for Kalshi, informed TechCrunch that this proposed legislation would suppress market rivalry and compel participants toward international forecasting platforms.
“It is evident that this proposed law stems from the concerns of casino entities whose dominance is jeopardized by competition. Their primary focus lies in safeguarding their exclusive control rather than in ensuring consumer protection,” Diana remarked.
Polymarket offered no reply when asked for an official statement.
Kalshi has encountered additional legal obstacles lately — the application is currently prohibited in Nevada and is confronting penal accusations in Arizona.
{content}
Source: {feed_title}