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Senator Who Tried to Ban Prediction Markets Now Lobbies for Kalshi
Confirmed
In Short: Former Senator Blanche Lincoln, who once warned against prediction markets, now lobbies for Kalshi after receiving $480,000 from the firm.
In 2010, Lincoln warned that prediction markets could evade gambling laws by offering 'event contracts' that allow people to place wagers on sports games.
Lincoln's comments as a senator are still frequently cited to support strict rules against sports betting and other kinds of bets on prediction markets.
However, since leaving office, Lincoln has shifted her stance, now advocating for looser regulation of event contracts.
Lincoln told the Biden CFTC that unlike elections and other major events, the results of sports matches do not have 'significant economic consequences,' indicating that they aren’t suitable for event contracts.
She also warned that these types of contracts would not serve any real commercial purpose and would be used solely for gambling.
Despite her previous warnings, Lincoln now lobbies for Kalshi, a firm that has spent at least $3 million on lobbying and campaign contributions in 2026, according to OpenSecrets.
Kalshi has also poured more than $300,000 into political organizations dedicated to electing and supporting attorneys general.
The firm is facing scrutiny from multiple states and the Trump administration, with some arguing that prediction market operators prey on young people and those with a propensity for gambling addiction.
In July, Kalshi fined former Republican congressman George Santos $71,356 for placing bets connected to his own attendance at President Trump’s State of the Union address.
Kalshi has banned Santos for life after finding he misled the public to make a profit on the platform.
The firm is also moving to end a program that pays traders for generating volume, nearly a year before it was scheduled to expire.
Without oversight from Washington, DC, an increasing number of states are looking to take action as experts fear a wave of gambling addiction facilitated by prediction markets.
What this adds
Lincoln's shift from a critic to a lobbyist for Kalshi highlights the evolving landscape of prediction market regulation.
The sources have not established the exact reasons behind Lincoln's change in stance or the extent of her lobbying efforts for Kalshi.
The impact of Kalshi's actions on gambling addiction and the broader implications for regulation remain unclear.
Background
Kalshi, a federally-regulated prediction market exchange, has launched cricket prediction markets for users in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, according to CBS Sports.
What's confirmed
- Kalshi also fined Santos $71,356 over the activity.
What's still developing
- “It would be quite easy to construct an event contract around sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and Masters golf tournament,” Lincoln, who played a key role in making the law that now regulates prediction markets, told fellow senators.
- It’s no surprise that the Trump administration is backing the industry.
- Earlier this month, multiple news outlets reported that President Trump’s teleprompter operator has been placing profitable bets on Kalshi regarding the content of Trump’s forthcoming speeches.
- Kalshi could set a period of up to 31 days and specify which markets and trades qualified.
- Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Just over a month after suing prediction market Kalshi for running an “illegal gambling” operation, New York state authorities are now accusing competitor Polymarket of exactly the same thing.
- Kalshi’s compliance department said it “ established reasonable cause ” to believe that Santos had placed bets connected to his own attendance at the event.
- Visit our Kalshi promo code review and get a $25 bonus after $25+ in trades with the Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS : Making NFL score predictions on all 14 remaining Week 1 games can help form not only NFL spread picks, but also over/under plays, parlays, props and even NFL survivor strategy.
- “He wouldn’t talk to us and actively dodged us,” Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana tells WIRED.
- Attorney General Letitia James filed her petition nearly two months after bringing a similar case against Polymarket rival Kalshi.
- The Kalshi promo code SPORTSLINE provides new users with a $25 bonus after $25 in trades.
- The three markets involve Kansas City winning by at least three points, Kenneth Walker III scoring a touchdown, and J.K.
- A laptop screen displays trades on the Kalshi website in Portland, Ore.