NC Gov. Stein bans state workers from prediction market insider trading
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed an executive order Wednesday, May 27, 2026, banning state employees from using nonpublic information to trade on prediction markets. The directive prohibits insider-information-based wagering on platforms offering event contracts, with Kalshi and Polymarket named as specific examples in some accounts. The order applies to government workers who could exploit advance knowledge of state decisions for personal gain. Stein appeared publicly at Wake Tech's Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence alongside U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ralph J. Rizzo Jr. on May 28, the same day a Pew study reported Kalshi and Polymarket grew 380% over eight months. No specific enforcement mechanism or penalty structure was detailed in available reports.
Kalshi and Polymarket must now add North Carolina to their state-specific compliance monitoring alongside Wisconsin's existing ban and Minnesota's pending legislation. The patchwork forces platforms to build geoblocking overlays or risk being named in enforcement templates spreading across states.
Stein joins Wisconsin Gov. Evers and Minnesota lawmakers in a three-state run of state-level insider-trading crackdowns on prediction markets, even as the CFTC sues to federally preempt the first Minnesota ban and Kalshi enters the same preemption fight.