House Oversight Chair Comer opens insider trading probe into Polymarket and Kalshi; demands records by June 5
House Oversight Chair James Comer opened an insider trading probe into Polymarket and Kalshi on Friday. Letters to CEOs Shayne Coplan and Tarek Mansour seek records by June 5 on identity checks, geo restrictions, and suspicious-activity monitoring. Sources: CNBC, NPR, CBS News
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer on Friday opened a congressional investigation into insider trading on the prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi. Comer cited a pattern of suspiciously timed trades on platforms tied to elections and to undisclosed U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, plus more than 80 Polymarket users who placed bets in advance of those events. He also referenced an April 24 federal indictment alleging that U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke used classified information about Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to place wagers generating more than $409,000 in profits. Letters to Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour demand documents by June 5 covering identity verification, geographic restrictions, internal detection systems for suspicious activity, and safeguards against the use of nonpublic information. Comer has signaled he may pursue legislation barring members of Congress, administration officials, and other government employees from participating on prediction markets. Both companies say they maintain robust market-integrity frameworks and look forward to engaging with the committee. Sources: CNBC, NPR, CBS News, House Oversight Committee.