TechFlow news: On April 5, CNBC reported that prediction market platform Polymarket has delisted a betting page related to the U.S. military’s rescue operation. Earlier, an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iran on Friday local time; one crew member has been rescued, while the other remains missing. The page allowed users to bet on the date the U.S. would confirm both pilots’ safe recovery.
Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton posted on X, condemning the page as “disgusting” and stating, “They could be your neighbor, friend, or family member—and now people are betting on whether they’ll survive.”
Polymarket subsequently responded on X, confirming it had immediately removed the market, citing that it “fails to meet the platform’s integrity standards,” and announced it is investigating how the page bypassed its internal review process. In a separate statement, Polymarket clarified that it does not charge fees or generate revenue from any geopolitical markets.
However, in an email to CNBC, Moulton stated that Polymarket removed the page not because it violated its standards, but “because we publicly called them out.” He further noted that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has regulatory authority over prediction market platforms but has taken no action thus far. “That needs to change. Yesterday there were 219 active bets under Polymarket’s ‘War’ category; today that number has risen to 223. This trend is spreading, and Congress must act.”
Last month, Moulton banned his office staff from using prediction market platforms such as Polymarket or Kalshi—a move his office described as the first of its kind in Congress.
