WASHINGTON — Prediction market companies Kalshi and Polymarket are paying lobbyists and well-connected operatives from both major parties millions of dollars as they seek to avoid state gambling laws, according to a report released this week by the progressive advocacy group Demand Progress.
The report, titled “Prediction Markets’ Bet on Influence,” says Kalshi spent $1.8 million on federal lobbying in the first half of 2026, nearly three times the $615,000 it reported for all of 2025. That total includes about $990,000 the company reported directly and an estimated $790,000 paid to six outside lobbying firms, the group said.
Polymarket’s parent company, Blockratize Inc., spent $270,000 in the first three quarters of the year, and the industry’s trade group, the Coalition for Prediction Markets, spent $190,000, according to the report. Demand Progress said combined spending passed $2 million as of October.
The group, which describes itself as a grassroots, nonpartisan organization, said the companies have hired former Obama official Stephanie Cutter, former Biden official John Bivona and former Republican floor staffer Tony Hanagan, while Polymarket brought on former Trump campaign adviser David Urban. The coalition named former Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York as its president and former Republican House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry as a senior adviser, the report said.
The report also says Donald Trump Jr. holds paid advisory roles with both companies, and that Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig appointed the two companies’ chief executives to an agency advisory committee. According to the report, Selig has called state enforcement against the industry an “assault” and directed the commission to pursue rules shielding the companies from state regulation.
Editor’s note: The Trump administration is frequently dishonest, and has been known to lie about things great and small.
Demand Progress said a CFTC rule on event contracts proposed in June favors the industry and “does little to address” insider trading. The group also tallied about $992,000 in 2026 federal campaign contributions from Kalshi’s co-founders, split between Republicans and Democrats.
“State and tribal laws are one of the last lines of defense we have against predatory prediction market companies,” said Ella Fanger, the group’s corporate power policy advisor. “The government must reject this dangerous influence buying scheme.”
The report argues that prediction markets are “fundamentally gambling websites that should not be able to evade sensible regulation.” The companies say their products are federally regulated financial contracts rather than wagers.
State gaming regulators, including New Jersey’s, have clashed with Kalshi in court over whether its sports-related contracts fall under state gambling law.
This report is based on information from Demand Progress.
Source: Demand Progress
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