Crime & Law

Pritzker Issues Executive Order Barring State Employees From Using Insider Info on Prediction Markets

Illinois state employees will be barred from using nonpublic information obtained from their job to aid in their wagers on prediction markets under an executive order issued by Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday.

Pritzker’s order seeks to prevent insider trading by strengthening guardrails amid the rapid growth of online prediction markets and event-based gambling contracts, the governor’s office said.

“While the Trump Administration continues to be riddled with stories of appointees looking to make a profit, Illinois is stepping up to ensure those who are serving the public not their own personal financial gain,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi allow users to bet on anything from policy decisions to sports, and operate with little to no regulatory oversight or safeguards, the governor’s office said.

Those markets have been criticized for everything from undermining the integrity of sports to contributing to an online betting addiction crisis among young men. Polymarket has come under particular scrutiny as a venue for offshore trades that are beyond the reach of U.S. regulators.

Under Pritzker’s order, all state employees and officers will be prohibited from using “nonpublic information obtained through one’s official position” to participate in prediction markets or event-based contracts, regardless of whether or not they profit from those markets.

The sharing of such nonpublic information to aid others in their wagers is similarly prohibited under the order.

State law already prohibits all current or former state officials and employees from knowingly using confidential information obtained via their employment to seek “actual or anticipated gain for themselves or another person.”

Pritzker’s executive order — which goes into effect immediately — will help strengthen those protections, the governor’s office said.

The Associated Press reported this month that a group of new accounts on Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers.

On the same day the report was published, the White House warned staff against using private information to trade on prediction markets.

Earlier this year, an anonymous Polymarket user collected more than $400,000 on a January bet predicting the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, prompting concerns that someone with access to private U.S. government information may have engaged in insider trading.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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