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Brian Steil plans to add Polymarket, Kalshi to House stock ban bill

Brian Steil plans to add Polymarket, Kalshi to House stock ban bill

The proposed change would bar House lawmakers from using prediction markets on elections and public policy, aligning the House effort more closely with a Senate ethics measure.

Fact Check
Bloomberg Government broke the story that Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), House Administration Committee chair, plans to add Polymarket/Kalshi prediction-market restrictions to H.R. 7008 (the House stock trading ban bill). This is corroborated by Yahoo Finance/Decrypt, Cointelegraph, and crypto.news. The claim's only error is misspelling the lawmaker's first name as 'Brian' instead of 'Bryan' — the substance (Steil, Polymarket, Kalshi, House stock ban bill) is accurate.
Summary

U.S. Representative Brian Steil plans to add language to the House congressional stock ban bill to cover prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi, widening the measure beyond traditional securities trading. The provision would bar lawmakers from betting on elections and public policy through event-based markets, which let users trade contracts tied to future outcomes. Bloomberg Government reported the plan on the 5th. The move comes as the Senate has already advanced ethics rule S.Res.708, which would prohibit prediction market use by senators and staff, signaling a broader push to address conflict-of-interest concerns tied to lawmakers taking positions on political or policy events.

Terms & Concepts
  • prediction markets: Platforms where users trade contracts tied to the outcome of future events.
  • Polymarket: A crypto-based platform for trading contracts on event outcomes.
  • Kalshi: A regulated prediction market platform offering event-based contracts.