New York cracks down on ‘predatory’ Polymarket

The city is probing prediction markets, claiming that they could encourage minors to gamble New York City Council is investigating Polymarket, Kalshi, and other predictive market platforms for “deceptive and predatory” marketing practices, accusing the industry of encouraging gambling and insider trading.Council Speaker Julie Menin notified Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase, and Gemini Titan of the investigation on Tuesday. In a letter to Polymarket seen by Bloomberg, Menin referenced “troubling” news reports suggesting that the company and its competitors “target young adults – and thus potentially minors – with false, deceptive, and unconscionable advertising.”According to the reports, Polymarket ​allegedly paid ⁠influencers to promote its platform without disclosure, produced videos showing fake trades on its site, presented losing bets as winners, and encouraged insider trading.“Prediction markets aggressively entice consumers to bet and wager on sports, politics, culture, weather, and pretty much anything. We refuse to let New Yorkers, especially our young people, become collateral damage,” Menin said in a statement on Wednesday. Prediction markets have snowballed into a $240 billi...