Lawmakers call for CFTC crackdown on prediction markets

U.S. Lawmakers call for CFTC crackdown on prediction markets after bet on downed U.S. airmen By Megan Cerullo Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting. Read Full Bio Megan Cerullo April 7, 2026 / 3:42 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Lawmakers are pressing securities regulators to crack down on prediction markets amid several recent incidents of people using the increasingly popular platforms to bet on events tied to the Iran war and other government actions. In an April 6 letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig, seven House Democrats demanded that the agency tighten its oversight of prediction markets after Polymarket allowed customers to wager on the fate of two U.S. airmen shot down over Iran last week. Betting on life and death?"It is morally corrupt and completely unacceptable for these platforms to allow people to bet on whether American service members live or die," Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a leader of the effort, said in a statement. "This is not a game. The CFTC has the authority to stop this, and we want to know why it hasn't."The CFTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers' letter.Companies like Polymarket and rival Kalshi let users wager money on the outcome of elections, sports contests and many other events. Yet while their popularity has exploded, the companies are attracting attention from lawmakers and other critics who say they violate anti-gambling regulations and who raise concerns about the integrity of trading activity on the platforms. Polymarket allowed speculators last week to bet on whether the U.S. airmen shot down in Iran would be rescued by April 3 or April 4. Both crew members from the downed F-15E fighter jet were rescued....