Polymarket adopts new stance to get tougher on insider trading

Polymarket is updating the rules of its platform to crack down on insider trading as the prediction market giant looks to curb scrutiny over market manipulation.

Announced Monday, the updated rules outline three distinct categories of insider trading that will be prohibited on the platform: trading on stolen confidential information (based on confidential info that violates a preexisting obligation), trading on illegal tips (based on info that was passed down illegally), and trading by those who can influence the outcome.

“Markets thrive on clarity,” Neal Kumar, chief legal officer of Polymarket, said in a press release. “These rule enhancements make our expectations abundantly clear for every participant across both platforms and highlight the compliance infrastructure we have already built.”

Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi have exploded in popularity due to the surge in sports betting, but these platforms allow users to take it one step further. For those interested in monitoring the situation, prediction markets allow users to bet on current events—anything from election results to the next war’s start date. But as markets become mainstream, scrutiny follows.

Take an instance following the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, in which an anonymous trader saw a big payout of $400,000 after betting the then-president would soon leave office. While such a lucrative payout incentivizes many to join the markets, it also raises the question of whether someone with insider knowledge could financially benefit.

Another instance involved wagering on whether Iran’s supreme leader would be ousted by March 1—users with advance knowledge of the attack that ultimately killed him on February 28 could have turned that into a lucrative position.

On Monday, Kalshi unveiled a new effort to curb the possibility of insider trading, reportedly planning to prevent bets on sports by athletes and coaches, as well as blocking politicians from betting on the outcomes of their races.

It follows other efforts to rein in users betting about outcomes they may have knowledge about. Recently, Kalshi suspended a trader who profited from a bet made with inside information related to his employer, mega-influencer MrBeast.

Polymarket’s updated rules state that users trying to pull a similar stunt on its platform could lead to “suspension, termination, monetary penalties, or referral to regulatory or law enforcement authorities.”

Kumar added: “As Polymarket continues to scale, we will build on our foundation with clear communication to Polymarket’s users to ensure our markets do what they do best—surface truth.”

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