<\/p>\n
Since the start<\/span> of the year, the prediction betting site Kalshi has two hired former officials from Joe Biden\u2019s White House as a policy adviser and a top lobbyist.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s co-founders have also spent nearly $1 million on donations to federal candidates, with more than a third, or $377,000, going to Democrats like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., according to a new report.<\/p>\n Kalshi\u2019s spending spree shows how much prediction market sites<\/a> have ratcheted up their presence in Washington as regulators craft rules for the industry. While the sites\u2019 close relationship with the Trump administration has drawn headlines, the report from the progressive group Demand Progress<\/a> details how the industry\u2019s influence operation crosses party lines.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been hopeful that they can have Democratic champions for their policy agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The push for bipartisan relationships began months ago, but it could pay dividends as Democrats take over both chambers of a Congress, said Ella Fanger, the corporate power policy adviser for Demand Progress. A betting market critic, Fanger predicted that the companies will keep trying to win allies on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been hopeful that they can have Democratic champions for their policy agenda,\u201d she said, \u201cand not just have Trump\u2019s cronies sticking out their necks for them.\u201d<\/p>\n The hiring spree of former Biden officials and spending on Democratic candidates come as prediction markets are facing increasing scrutiny over betting on elections<\/a> and a spate of suspicious trades from Washington<\/a> about policy moves and even military action. <\/p>\n On Tuesday, Democrats on Capitol Hill called<\/a> for Trump to bar White House staffers from using the betting sites and, with Democrats taking Congress, many observers expect investigations<\/a> into their use in Washington.<\/p>\n In a statement, Kalshi said it was willing to work \u201cacross the ideological spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKalshi has had substantive conversations with policymakers over the past year regarding legislation that protects consumers, keeps minors off our platform, makes insider trading bans standard across the industry, and ensures the CFTC\u201d \u2014 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission \u2014 \u201chas the resources they need,\u201d said the company\u2019s head of government relations, John Bivona, a former Democratic congressional staffer and Biden White House official.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve come out in support of legislation introduced by members across the ideological spectrum,\u201d Bivona said, \u201cand we\u2019ve worked with dozens of lawmakers from both parties on these priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kalshi and its rival Polymarket are the dominant players in the prediction market industry, which has flourished since Donald Trump became president<\/a> thanks to his administration\u2019s hands-off approach to regulation.<\/p>\n The ties between the prediction betting sites and Trumpworld go all the way to the president\u2019s inner circle, as evidenced by Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s financial stakes at both<\/a> competitors.<\/p>\n Polymarket has also hired as a lobbyist<\/a> a Republican former top official at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The federal regulatory body has, under the Trump administration, sued states for trying to regulate sports betting as gambling.<\/p>\n The Demand Progress report covers Trump Jr.\u2019s ties to the industry, but it also shines a light on the role of former Democratic congressional and executive branch staffers.<\/p>\n Kalshi\u2019s hires have tended toward establishment Democrats. Among them are Stephanie Cutter, a political strategist<\/a> whose work spanned the Obama and Biden administrations as well as Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign for president. Cutter was tapped as a policy adviser for Kalshi in April. Bivona was hired by Kalshi as its head of government relations in January.<\/p>\n\n
Hiring Republicans \u2014 and Dems<\/strong><\/h2>\n