There’s a new target for prediction-market insider-trading bans: state government employees.
On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York signed an executive order aimed at banning state employees from engaging in insider trading on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.
“Getting rich by betting on inside information is corruption, plain and simple,” Hochul said in a statement. “Our actions will ensure that public servants work for the people they represent, not their own personal enrichment.”
Hochul is the third governor to move against prediction market insider trading. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois signed a similar executive order on Tuesday, and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California did the same at the end of March.
In each case, the governors’ offices said that they were building on existing ethics laws that prohibit using state office for personal gain.
Each governor’s executive order also prevents state employees from passing along insider information to others to allow them to profit.
It all comes amid public concern around the potential for insider trading on prediction market platforms. Both Kalshi and Polymarket have said that they take the issue seriously, and both have recently implemented measures aimed at combating it.
While no hard proof of insider trading by government officials has come to light, state officials may have access to nonpublic information that could impact certain prediction markets, particularly those based on government actions.
The White House also recently warned employees against making prediction market bets amid the war in Iran, and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill have banned or are considering banning their staff from trading on prediction markets altogether.
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