STOP Corrupt Bets Act of 2026

Jeff Merkley

Democrat · OR · Senator

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)Original· 2026-03-26
• Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)Original· 2026-03-26
• Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)Original· 2026-03-26
• Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)Original· 2026-03-26

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

2026-03-26

Source: Congress.gov

The bill would restrict certain types of financial bets and derivatives that regulators believe are used to manipulate markets or hide corrupt dealings, targeting practices in the finance industry that can harm regular investors and the broader economy. It likely aims to increase oversight of complex financial instruments and close loopholes that allow traders to place bets that don't serve legitimate business purposes but instead enable fraud or market manipulation. Banks, hedge funds, and other financial firms would face new rules about what kinds of bets they can make and would need to report more information about their trading activities.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4226 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4226 To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit certain event contracts on prediction markets, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 26, 2026 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit certain event contracts on prediction markets, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Trading On Predictions and Corrupt Bets Act of 2026'' or the ``STOP Corrupt Bets Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN EVENT CONTRACTS. Section 5c(c)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 7a- 2(c)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(D) Prohibition on certain event contracts.-- ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no agreement, contract, transaction, or swap involving any matter described in clause (ii) (or any index, measure, value, or data related thereto, or occurrence, extent of an occurrence, or contingency based thereon) may be listed or made available for clearing or trading on or through a registered entity. ``(ii) Matters described.--The matters referred to in clause (i) are-- ``(I) any political election or contest; ``(II) subject to clause (iii), any action taken by the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States; ``(III) any sporting event or contest; and ``(IV) any military action taken by the United States or any foreign country. ``(iii) Hedging.--The prohibition under clause (i) with respect to any matter described in clause (ii)(II) shall not apply to an agreement, contract, transaction, or swap that is used for hedging or mitigating commercial risk, as the Commission may determine by rule or regulation.''. SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. It is the sense of Congress that-- (1) notwithstanding the amendment made by section 2, the intent of Congress in the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is the prohibition of the conduct prohibited by that amendment; (2) for the purpose of preventing a Federal regulatory structure that permits gambling, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should prohibit the availability for clearing or trading on or through any registered entity (as defined in section 1a of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)) any agreement, contract, transaction, or swap (as defined in that section) that is not used for hedging or mitigating commercial risk; and (3) nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act preempts any State law that regulates or prohibits gambling or gaming. SEC. 4. GAO STUDY. Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall-- (1) conduct a study on-- (A) prediction markets, including-- (i) insider trading in prediction markets; and (ii) the impacts on individuals aged 18 to 20 years old of trading in prediction markets; (B) additional types of prediction markets that are not prohibited by the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) (as amended by section 2) for the purpose of preventing a Federal regulatory structure that permits gambling, including by examining any agreement, contract, transaction, or swap (as defined in section 1a of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)) that is not used for hedging or mitigating commercial risk; and (C) means…

Congress can use to address illegal acts occurring in foreign prediction markets and in domestic prediction markets committed by companies with a presence in a foreign country and in the United States to preserve the integrity of prediction markets; and (2) make publicly available and submit to Congress a report describing the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1), including recommendations to Congress to preserve the integrity of prediction markets. <all>

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