Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, the Wall Street Journal reported Senator Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) introduction of the DEATH BETS Act, legislation to explicitly prohibit any Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered entity from listing any contract that involves, relates to, or references terrorism, assassination, war, or an individual’s death.
The introduction of this bill followed platforms listing prediction contracts relating to war and death, such as whether Iran’s Ali Khamenei would be “out as Supreme Leader” which had $54 million in trading volume on Kalshi before it was paused.
The Senator previously raised the alarm and wrote to the CFTC along with other Senators on these “death contracts” being offered on offshore exchanges such as Artemis II would explode, if Maduro would be removed from power, and whether the Ukrainian town of Myrnohad would be captured by Russian forces.
Senator Schiff’s bill specifically would codify a prohibition on war, assassination, and terrorism contracts, and would explicitly prohibit contracts that involve death or may otherwise be construed to closely correlate with death, which is not currently referenced in the Commodity Exchange Act.
Read the full story here and below:
Wall Street Journal: Democratic Lawmakers Introduce Bill Banning Event Contracts Tied to War, Death
Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) on Tuesday introduced legislation seeking to explicitly ban any entity regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from listing a contract “that involves, relates to, or references” terrorism, assassination, war or death.
Rep. Mike Levin (D., Calif) introduced companion legislation to the House of Representatives, according to Sen. Schiff’s office.
Federal law gives the CFTC the authority to prohibit event contracts involving war, terrorism, assassination or any activity that violates federal or state laws or is against the public interest. The bill seeks to explicitly ban such contracts from being listed, according to Sen. Schiff’s office.
“With regulators turning a blind eye, prediction markets have rapidly become the Wild West,” Sen. Schiff said in a statement. “As the CFTC seeks to rewrite the rules of the road, Congress must make clear that these death bets are unequivocally prohibited, and this bill would do just that.”
Earlier this month, bets on prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be out of power came under scrutiny after the killing of Khamenei.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig came out swinging in favor of prediction markets in February, saying he sees their platforms as a way for society to channel the wisdom of crowds for useful information, offering a check on news media and other gatekeepers.
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