Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order Friday banning state employees from using insider information to place bets with prediction market apps.
Maryland’s ban, effective immediately, comes as prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow people to bet on real-world events, have come under heightened scrutiny. The action covers employees of the executive branch, political appointees, members of the hundreds of state boards and commissions, and contractors. Moore made sure to include himself and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller.
“The citizens of Maryland deserve a government where State business is conducted truthfully and honestly, free from the existence or perception of any corruption or misconduct,” the order said.
Violators could face discipline or lose their jobs or contracts.
Moore discussed the order during a streamed panel discussion on the “Overtime” segment of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
“We just signed an executive order banning anyone in Maryland state government from doing any type of predictions market,” Moore said to applause from the audience.
The current situation is “ridiculous,” Moore said. He noted that he now has about 57% approval but that the predictions market rates his chances of winning reelection at around 97%.
What’s to stop him, he asked, from placing a $250,000 bet that he won’t win reelection and then tanking the race? “And then someone else wins and I would walk away with about four million dollars,” he added.
Asked by Maher if he’d gotten much pushback, he replied, “I don’t care.” Moore and the panel then joked about who would actually raise their hand to oppose such an order.
“I mean, it’s crazy,” Moore concluded. “And it’s just ridiculous when you think about the type of grifting that goes on, and this is on the heels of a whole bunch of other stuff.”
The governor’s executive action back home follows a bipartisan crackdown on individuals using privileged government information for financial gain, and comes after other Democratic governors have taken similar action. Federal authorities are investigating high-profile trades on the timing of military action in Iran and the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The rise in popularity of this online arena has opened the possibility that state employees could enrich themselves through their jobs, the order said. There are no known incidents of insider trading by any state employee sparking the ban, according to Moore’s office.
The online platforms allow speculators to place casino-style bets, called contracts, on a wide range of future, real-world events from the geopolitical to the hyperlocal. Guessing correctly yields a payout.
Website dashboards invite bettors to guess when world leaders will strike a peace deal in Iran, which party will win control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and what the price of gas will be on Election Day.
Here in Maryland, players are betting on the 6th District primary race between U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney and bentrepreneur David Trone, a fellow Democrat who previously held the seat. Other wagers: Who will Maryland Republicans pick to run against Moore? So far, the odds are on his former challenger, Dan Cox.
The markets are legal and fall under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The government regulator oversees the derivatives markets, where investors make trades based on future market fluctuations.
The CFTC filed its first complaint involving a prediction market event contract in federal court Thursday.
They’ve charged an active duty service member with using classified knowledge to bet on the military’s plans to capture Maduro.
Kalshi and Polymarket set explicit rules against insider trading as bipartisan members of Congress have pushed for more oversight.
This story has been updated.
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