TechFlow News, March 26: According to a Cointelegraph report, U.S. bipartisan lawmakers Adrian Smith and Nikki Budzinski jointly introduced the Preventing Real-time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Congressional Trading Act (PREDICT Act), which aims to prohibit members of Congress, the President, the Vice President, and politically appointed officials from trading on prediction markets regarding the outcomes of political events, policy decisions, and government actions. The ban also applies to the spouses and dependents of these officials.
Violations would incur a 10% fine on the total value of the contracts involved, and all profits would be forfeited to the U.S. Treasury.
The bill comes amid heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets. Budzinski noted that several recent cases involving anonymous traders reaping massive profits—such as those tied to potential Iran-related conflict or U.S. government shutdowns—have raised concerns about the use of insider information. Earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers introduced another bill titled the BETS OFF Act; Senator Chris Murphy likewise accused individuals of placing bets on Trump’s military actions using nonpublic information.
