A new coalition of consumer advocates, Gambling is Not Investing, has launched to provide support for consistent consumer protections and regulatory accountability, having also named former Congressman Mick Mulvaney as its Executive Director on March 2.
The coalition looks to enforce state and Tribal gaming laws against prediction market operators which facilitate unregulated sports betting through event contract trading.
According to Gambling is Not Investing, such entities “operate outside established state and Tribal gaming frameworks, bypassing safeguards voters and elected leaders have put in place across the country.”
“Gambling products – regardless of what you call them – must follow established state and Tribal laws,” Mulvaney said.
“Rebranding sports wagering as ‘trading’ or ‘investing’ or ‘predicting’ misleads consumers, undermines responsible gaming protections and weakens the state and Tribal systems built to protect the public and fund vital community services.”
The former Congressman previously served as White House Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump during his first administration, and is reportedly not seeking a ban against prediction markets even in spite of recent concerns over insider trading.
The new coalition stated: “Gambling is Not Investing is launching amid growing public concern that gambling-like contracts marketed as ‘investing’ or ‘trading’ risk encouraging consumers to treat sports betting as a financial product, distorting risk perception and driving harmful behavior.
“Existing gaming laws are being ignored, states are losing oversight, consumers are being misled and communities are losing public revenue.”
On February 25, Kalshi released the penalties for two cases of insider trading, including a California politician who wagered on his own candidacy for Governor, as well as an editor for popular YouTube content creator Mr. Beast after wagering on YouTube streaming markets.
The California Governor candidate was given a five-year ban from using Kalshi’s prediction market platform, as well as a financial penalty of 10 times his original $200 trade.
The Mr. Beast editor, identified as Artem Kaptur, violated Kalshi’s insider trading rules after trading nearly $4,000 on YouTube streaming markets and was given a two-year ban and a financial penalty of five times the original trade amount.
The Coalition for Prediction Markets, a group which features registered members such as Kalshi and Robinhood, began a ‘seven figure’ PR campaign on January 28 to advocate for regulated markets in the US
