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A group of Democratic Party members, including US Senators and House Representatives, have taken action again to ban betting on the 2024 Presidential election. In a letter to the Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Benham, on August 5, they stated that such markets could influence elections and undermine trust in democracy.
“It Will Undermine Trust in the Election Process”
In the letter signed by Senators Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Representatives Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, it was stated, “Allowing billionaires to make extraordinary bets while contributing to a specific candidate or party, and significant political figures betting on elections with non-public information will further undermine trust in the election process.”
Lawmakers emphasized that elections are not a profit-making venture and that this would undermine the sanctity of the democratic process. They argued that “Political betting changes the motivations behind each vote and replaces political beliefs with financial calculations,” thus harming the election process.
The letter called for urgent steps to prevent the commercialization of elections. Lawmakers believe that if elections become merely a profit tool, public trust in the election process will be severely shaken, and the democratic process will be undermined.
This call came as the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket received over $500 million in bets on the “2024 Presidential Election Winner” market and $319.7 million on the “2024 Democratic Candidate” market. Currently, bettors from around the world can place bets in these markets. However, Polymarket accepted a $1.4 million penalty settlement with the CFTC in January 2022 for offering more than 900 event-based binary options markets without registration.
Lawmakers argue that large bets have the potential to influence election outcomes and further erode public trust in democracy. Therefore, they stated that the CFTC should act quickly to ban such betting activities.
2024 Presidential Elections Are Approaching Quickly
There are about three months left until the US presidential elections. Most crypto betting platforms show Republican candidate Donald Trump as the likely winner, although Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been observed closing the gap in recent weeks.
