Senate Democrats seek hearing as Republicans meet Kalshi CEO privately

Senate Banking Committee Democrats urged Chair Tim Scott to hold a public congressional hearing on prediction markets. The Democrats sent the request in a letter on Wednesday. The Democrats said the committee has a critical oversight role in overseeing prediction markets. They called for a bipartisan public hearing instead of a Republican-only industry roundtable behind closed doors. Among the letter's signers were Senators Elizabeth Warren, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jack Reed, Mark Warner, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, and Angela Alsobrooks. Committee Republicans met privately with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Scott said he brought the Republicans and Kalshi together to better understand securities-linked products. Scott said they discussed bringing innovation onshore. Scott said they discussed how investors use the products. Scott said they discussed ways to protect retail investors. Scott said they discussed regulatory questions for Congress. Scott said his goal was to support financial innovation while protecting investors and providing regulatory clarity for emerging markets. Kalshi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has asserted a leading role in regulating prediction markets. States have pushed back. The states argue that they have authority over sports event contracts. The House Agriculture Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee have primary jurisdiction over the CFTC. Both committees have considered prediction markets regulation over the past year. The Senate Banking Committee has jurisdiction over the Securities and Exchange Commission. The committee would oversee securities-linked products related to prediction markets. The Democrats said those products offer bets tied to company performance indicators. The Democrats said those products could fall within the SEC's regulatory remit. Bloomberg reported in July that Cboe Global Markets was asking the SEC whether it could list all-or-nothing options tied to companies' earnings results. The Democrats said the requests for SEC approval made the full Senate Banking Committee's oversight role critical.