Lawmakers Want This New Betting Trend Shut Down before It’s Too Late

As wildfires rip through the Pacific Northwest, a group of lawmakers is calling on federal regulators to intervene to stop some very grim gambling activity that poses dangers of its own.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley led a group of lawmakers this week in asking for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates U.S. derivatives markets, to crack down on wildfire-related betting by putting "common-sense guardrails" in place. In Oregon, Portland topped global charts for dangerous air quality this week during what is shaping up to be one of the worst fire seasons of all time.

"Prediction markets have been enabled to expand rapidly, increasingly inviting speculation on war, political violence, disasters and public emergencies that raise ethical and public policy concerns,” the senators wrote in the letter. "These markets risk creating perverse incentives, undermining public trust, and commodifying human suffering in ways that warrant careful scrutiny."

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