Ban private gain from public funds! U.S. Congress Resolution: Senators prohibited from participating in prediction markets, effective immediately

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed an amendment banning senators and their staff from participating in prediction markets. This ban takes effect immediately and covers platforms that allow betting on election outcomes or legislation.

As the cryptocurrency market structure bill faces obstacles, the U.S. Senate on April 30 swiftly passed a resolution: prohibiting senators and their staff from engaging in prediction markets. According to Senate rules, this ban became effective immediately upon announcement.

This resolution, driven by Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, is only 14 lines long but unusually received unanimous approval from the entire chamber. Bernie Moreno stated that the resolution amends Senate Rule 37, strictly prohibiting senators from participating in “any agreement, contract, or transaction based on whether a specific event occurs, or the extent to which it occurs, involving buying, selling, payment, or settlement.”

The wording in the resolution clearly targets prediction platforms like Polymarket, Kalshi, and others. On these platforms, users can bet on major events such as presidential election results, bill passage, economic data releases, or geopolitical conflicts.

In a statement on Thursday, Bernie Moreno said: “Since U.S. senators are drawing from taxpayers’ hard-earned money, they absolutely should not involve themselves in speculative activities like prediction markets—there’s no room for compromise on this.”

Serving in Congress should never be about finding new ways to enrich oneself, but about making meaningful contributions to the American people.

As political battles rapidly gain attention worldwide, there have been recent cases of public officials being penalized for betting on their own election prospects. In response, the world’s largest prediction platform, Polymarket, immediately expressed “full support” for the Senate’s decision on social platform X.

In fact, after reaching a settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2022, Polymarket has theoretically prohibited U.S. users from trading. The company emphasized that its user terms “already strictly prohibit such activities, but formalizing this into law is undoubtedly a significant step forward for the entire industry.”

According to current betting data on the Polymarket platform, the market’s prediction of Democrats retaking the Senate majority in the November midterm elections is about 50%, tied with Republicans.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《BlockBeats》
• Original title: 《Effective Immediately! U.S. Senate Passes Resolution: Senators Banned from Prediction Markets》
• Original author: Block Sister MEL