Goldman Sachs bans employees from some prediction market contracts

Goldman Sachs is placing restrictions on employee trading on some prediction markets, a source familiar confirmed to The Hill on Friday.

Staff at the investment banking giant are permitted to place wagers related to sports and entertainment but are barred from trading on markets tied to specific companies, financial markets or election outcomes. Bloomberg first reported on the new policy.

The updated policy comes as prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket, have come under heightened scrutiny in the past six months over insider trading.

In one of the most high-profile incidents, a U.S. Army soldier was charged with using confidential government information about the January raid in Venezuela to place bets on Polymarket. He allegedly made more than $400,000 in profits.

Federal prosecutors also charged a Google employee in May with insider trading on Polymarket, after he allegedly used his access to confidential, nonpublic data on the company’s “Year in Search” list to rake in about $1.2 billion on wagers last year.

In response, Kalshi and Polymarket have rolled out additional restrictions in recent months.

Kalshi announced in March it was launching new guardrails to block politicians, athletes and other relevant people from trading in particular markets. In June, the company also said it would start asking users in certain markets to share information about their employers.

Polymarket also updated its rules in March to clarify that trading on stolen confidential information and illegal tips or by those who can influence the outcome is not allowed on the platform.

Despite these efforts, lawmakers have remained concerned about insider trading. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) launched a probe in May into whether users are relying on nonpublic or classified information to trade on the sites.

View original source — The Hill ↗

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