Bloomberg Editorial Board Calls Kalshi and Polymarket Gambling Firms, Urges Congress to Tighten Prediction Market Rules

Kalshi and Polymarket are gambling businesses exploiting regulatory gaps, with about 90% of Kalshi's fee revenue tied to sports betting and user age limits set three years below those of most legal casinos, a Bloomberg Opinion editorial said. The platforms present bets on sports, politics and other events as "event contracts" under the federal Commodity Exchange Act and register with the CFTC, instead of following state-level gambling regimes that bind operators like FanDuel and DraftKings. Bloomberg's editorial board highlights concerns including potential insider trading around a Polymarket contract tied to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei's loss of power, where trading volume related to the February 28 airstrike topped $500 million, as well as an 18+ entry age, margin trading plans and a partnership between Kalshi and Robinhood. The board calls on Congress to amend the CEA to clearly define event contracts, curb purely gambling-based and political markets, impose baseline consumer protections in line with the SAFE Betting Act and reassert broader oversight of nationwide prediction markets that could exceed $10 billion in monthly volume.