Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket have announced new guardrails for player safety, but also to detect potential manipulation of election markets.
Kalshi announced on Tuesday it would be imposing a $2,500 monthly limit for 18 to 20-year-olds. In addition to the new monthly cap, the company is also partnering with parent and youth safety organizations Parent ProTech and ConnectSafely to publish Parents' Guide to Prediction Markets.
The announcement comes after the company faced criticism from state regulators who are calling for the platform to be classified as gambling and fall under their jurisdiction. Last week, the State of Utah filed a lawsuit alleging the company functions in a similar fashion to "the manager of a back-alley gambling den.”
Polymarket, on the other hand, unveiled its election-specific surveillance system designed to monitor potential attempts to manipulate election markets, as the US midterms draw near.
Shana Bautista, Head of Global Intelligence & Investigations at Polymarket, said in the company's official press release: "Our team brings years of experience tracing funds and investigating sophisticated networks. We connect the evidence, evaluate legitimate explanations and document the basis for our decisions."
The team will focus on detecting potential price manipulation, coordinated and inauthentic trading, insider trading and order-book abuse. Subsequently, they will use the internally developed monitoring system, PolyGraph, to analyze and investigate findings.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also made it clear that it would closely oversee trades made on prediction markets regarding the US midterm elections.
Director of Enforcement for the CFTC David Miller said that all candidates' employees are not allowed to place bets on the platforms as they are likely under confidentiality agreements.
In August, a candidate running for the House of Representatives was issued a three-year ban from Kalshi for purchasing contracts related to her own candidacy.
Traders across Kalshi and Polymarket have spent more than $220m on the 2026 midterm elections
