David Marcus warns prediction markets are creating a massive insider trading problem
Fox News opinion contributor David Marcus warns that prediction markets are creating a massive insider trading problem as online gambling expands into politics. In a July 25 op-ed, Marcus argues that prediction markets enable widespread exploitation of non-public information by those with privileged access to events, citing soldiers with advance knowledge of military action and White House teleprompter operators who could trade on presidential speeches before they are delivered.
Marcus's framing arms lawmakers with a vivid narrative just as enforcement cases are live. The teleprompter operator the White House suspended two days ago, and the Arizona governor's ban on state-worker trading three days before that, give Congress concrete examples to cite. Kalshi and Polymarket must now expect hearing rooms where members read op-eds aloud and demand answers.
The platforms' surveillance systems face scrutiny not just from regulators but from opinion leaders who define whether the problem is manageable or existential. Marcus does not name specific legislation, but his platform amplifies the insider-trading storyline faster than volume metrics alone. The risk for operators is that outsider narrative-building turns discrete incidents into systemic scandal that justifies federal crackdown before self-regulation can prove itself.
Marcus joins Don Moynihan and the Arizona executive branch in warning that prediction markets expose public employees to insider-trading liability, the first sitting member of Congress tied to a tip allegation having surfaced five days ago against a backdrop of mounting enforcement and state action.