As Prediction Markets Grow, Evers Moves To Block Insider Trading
Executive order follows lawsuits over Kalshi and other platforms in Wisconsin courts.
MadFishDigital (CC-BY)
Gov. Tony Evers has a warning for executive branch state employees: be careful what you bet on.
Evers issued an executive order Thursday that applies to more than 30,000 state workers.
It bans those employees from using any “nonpublic knowledge” they obtain through their public service as a way to profit from prediction markets. It also bans those workers from sharing that insider knowledge with others, like spouses or other family members, so those people can make profitable wagers.
An employee who violates the order could be fired, referred to Wisconsin’s Ethics Commission or referred to law enforcement for criminal investigation.
The order comes in response to the rising popularity of online platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Those platforms allow people to buy and sell event contracts, so they can put money on the outcomes of real-world events, like sports, elections and the weather.
According to the governor’s office, there have “not been any identified incidents of insider information being used or disclosed inappropriately by Wisconsin workers.” But the use of prediction market wagers for real-world events is raising concerns.
Governors in other states, including Illinois and New York, have handed down similar rules for state workers.
At the federal level, prosecutors have charged a U.S. solider with violating the Commodity Exchange Act after he allegedly used classified information to make wagers through Polymarket about the timing of the U.S.’s invasion of Venezuela.
“Maintaining public trust and confidence in our state government demands and depends upon transparency, accountability, and integrity,” Evers said in a statement Thursday. “Above all, the work must be for the benefit of the public good and not for personal greed or gain.”
Last month, Wisconsin’s Department of Justice sued Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket and Crypto.com, alleging those platforms facilitate illegal sports betting in Wisconsin.
The federal government then filed a countersuit against the state, arguing Wisconsin was trying to interfere with the operation of federal law in regulating financial markets. Similar suits have been filed by federal authorities against other states attempting to crack down on the online platforms.
The Ho-Chunk Nation, a tribe headquartered in Black Rivers Falls, is also taking Kalshi to court.
In Wisconsin, sports betting is mostly illegal, unless it’s done at tribal casinos that operate under agreements with the state. A law signed by Evers last month will also pave way for legal sports gamble to take place online — as long as that betting is facilitated through one of 11 Native American tribes in Wisconsin.
But a federal lawsuit filed by Ho-Chunk Nation in 2025 accuses Kalshi of allowing people to engage in illegal sports betting through Kalshi’s platform.
Kalshi has argued its services don’t amount to sports betting. Instead, it says it should be regulated as a financial exchange because it allows people to buy and sell event contracts.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge William Conley allowed the Ho-Chunk Nation’s lawsuit to move forward after concluding that the tribe had a right to sue Kalshi under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. At the same time, Conley denied the tribe’s request for an injunction that would have stopped Kalshi from operating on Ho-Chunk tribal lands, at least temporarily.
Don’t bet on that: Evers bans state employees from using insider knowledge in prediction markets was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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