Richard

Donald Trump

Kamala Harris (kamalaharriscoin.com)

Kamala Harris (kamaharris.fun)

Five United States Senators and three House representatives have renewed calls for the commodities regulator to ban betting on the 2024 presidential election.
They <a href="https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/CFTC-Letter-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">claimed</a> that such markets “could influence and interfere with elections and further erode public trust in democracy” in an Aug. 5 letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair, Rostin Benham.
<blockquote>
 “Allowing billionaires to wager extraordinary bets while simultaneously contributing to a specific candidate or party, and political insiders to bet on elections using non-public information, will further degrade public trust in the electoral process.”
</blockquote>
“We urge you to promptly finalize and implement this rule to prevent the commodification of U.S. elections.”
The letter was signed by Senators Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Van Hollen, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/elizabeth-warren-fake-letter-crypto-tax" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Elizabeth Warren,</a> Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes and Eleanor Holmes Norton.
<figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/21a0b5e8-585c-494d-a58a-0cd78ebd7702.png" alt="US senators urge CFTC to finalize ban on election betting">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">Lawmakers’ letter to CFTC Chair Rostin Benham. Source: Congress
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-voting-restore-trust-elections" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">lawmakers stressed that elections</a> are not a “for-profit enterprise” as that would cheapen the sanctity of the democratic process.
<blockquote>
 “Political bets change the motivations behind each vote, replacing political convictions with financial calculations.”
</blockquote>
All eight lawmakers are members of the Democratic party.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/australia-bans-crypto-credit-cards-online-gambling" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Australia cracks down on online gambling with crypto, credit card ban</a>
It comes as decentralized prediction platform Polymarket has <a href="https://polymarket.com/markets/politics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">seen</a> more than <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/polymarket-tops-one-billion-betting-volume-amid-us-election-hype" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$500 million in bets</a> placed on the “Presidential Election Winner 2024” market, while the “Democratic Nominee 2024” market has tallied $319.7 million in bets.
Punters from all around the world can place bets on these markets.
Polymarket settled a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-predictions-platform-polymarket-fined-1-4m-by-ctfc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$1.4 million fine</a> with the CFTC in January, 2022, for offering more than 900 event-based binary option event contract markets without obtaining registration.
The US presidential election is now three months away.
Most cryptocurrency betting platforms have <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-may-not-champion-that-crypto-advocates-hope" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Republican candidate Donald Trump</a> as clear favorite to win the US election — however presumptive Democrat candidate Kamala Harris has been closing that gap in recent weeks.
Magazine:<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/thorchain-founder-jp-thor-vampire-attack-defi/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> THORChain founder and his plan to ‘vampire attack’ all of DeFi</a>

US senators urge CFTC to finalize ban on election betting

Cointelegraph

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