Polymarket is facing calls for more regulation. It’s introducing sportsbook-style safeguards

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Prediction site Polymarket rolled out new consumer protections and anti-addiction measures Wednesday, as a growing number of policymakers call for more regulation of the booming industry.

Prediction sites have exploded in popularity this year, with billions of dollars wagered on everything from sports to elections, entertainment and even the weather.

Polymarket will now allow users to create deposit limits that can’t be immediately undone, so they can slow down their spending and potential losses. Users can also place themselves on an “exclusion list” that would temporarily or permanently block them from the platform.

The company is also offering new access to mental health resources for users exhibiting what it calls “compulsive financial trading behaviors.” This is part of a new partnership with Birches Health, a virtual gambling addiction therapy company.

“Right now, the number-one priority is just getting this out, giving it into the hands of the millions of people that leverage and use us, and trust us to protect them and keep them safe,” Malea Otranto, Polymarket’s new head of global safety, told CNN in an interview.

Prediction sites are similar to gambling in terms of risking real money , but they’re legally classified as federally regulated financial markets, which means they don’t have to follow state consumer protection laws for casinos and sportsbooks. It falls on companies to voluntarily offer tools that users can opt into – which many state and federal lawmakers say is inadequate.

Jonathan Cohen, who leads gambling policy at the American Institute for Boys and Men, praised these moves but said their impact may be limited, pointing to data from state regulators showing that few gamblers utilize similar tools on sportsbooks.

“These restrictions are standard fare for online sports-betting platforms,” Cohen said. “The companies are clearly recognizing that from a user standpoint, the behavior is similar to, if not synonymous with, gambling.”

Asked about the effectiveness of these “responsible trading” tools, Otranto said Polymarket will be tracking usage of these tools and might make adjustments in the future.

“It’s really incredibly important as we continue to grow and accelerate to give people control over how they want to leverage our platform,” Otranto said.

Prediction sites like Polymarket and Kalshi are regulated federally by the CFTC, a small federal agency that has historically spent most of its time policing commodities trading, like soybean futures and oil derivatives.

But sports markets are the main drivers of the prediction frenzy. Sports and multi-leg parlays popular with sports made up more than 98% of trading volume this month on Polymarket’s US site, according to TickerTracker , a data analysis firm.

This is part of the reason why “responsible trading” safeguards on Polymarket and Kalshi resemble the “responsible gaming” policies at sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel.

Polymarket’s deputy chief legal officer Olivia Chalos acknowledged these similarities, but said the company follows a different business model than sportsbooks, and wants to protect users, especially younger users , who aren’t experienced with financial exchanges.

“You’re seeing a user base that did not previously participate in financial markets coming in, and doing this at scale,” Chalos told CNN. “With that, there are measures that need to be in place, because you’re recognizing an audience that is participating in markets for the first time.”

Gaming lawyer Joshua Kirschner said “there is no analogue” in existing federal law that gets close to matching the seemingly “endless list of various tools” found in state regulations that require casinos and sportsbooks to promote responsible gambling and to combat gambling addiction.

That’s one reason why a bipartisan coalition of 44 states have argued in court that prediction platforms should be subjected to state laws and regulated like gambling.

Polymarket’s announcement comes one week after New York filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down the company.

State investigators said Polymarket is circumventing New York’s “strict regulation of licensed gambling,” which includes requirements to block underage users, rules against predatory advertising , mandatory funding for addiction programs, and “self-exclusion” policies.

Polymarket denies wrongdoing and filed a countersuit against New York in federal court. The state is also suing Kalshi , which said the case is baseless and will “hurt New Yorkers.”

“These protections are good for consumers,” Kirschner said of Polymarket’s new safety measures, “but maybe it’s also a nod to try to pacify state regulators.”

CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and uses its data to cover major events. But CNN editorial employees aren’t permitted to use prediction platforms.

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预测网站 Polymarket 周三推出了新的消费者保护和防成瘾措施，与此同时，越来越多的政策制定者呼吁对蓬勃发展的毒品行业进行更多监管。

今年，预测网站的人气呈爆炸式增长，人们在从体育到选举、娱乐甚至天气等各个方面下注，金额高达数十亿美元。

Polymarket 现在允许用户设置无法立即撤销的存款限额，以便减缓支出并降低潜在损失。用户还可以将自己添加到“排除名单”中，该名单会暂时或永久禁止他们访问平台。

该公司还为表现出所谓“强迫性金融交易行为”的用户提供新的心理健康资源。这是该公司与虚拟赌博成瘾治疗公司 Birches Health 建立新合作关系的一部分。

“目前，首要任务就是尽快推出这项服务，将其交付给数百万使用我们产品和服务、信任我们能够保护他们并保障他们安全的用户，”Polymarket 新任全球安全主管 Malea Otranto 在接受 CNN 采访时表示。

预测网站与赌博类似，都涉及真钱风险，但它们在法律上被归类为受联邦监管的金融市场，这意味着它们无需遵守各州针对赌场和体育博彩的消费者保护法。公司需要自愿提供用户可选择使用的工具——许多州和联邦立法者认为这种做法远远不够。

美国男孩与男人研究所负责赌博政策的乔纳森·科恩对这些举措表示赞赏，但他指出，州监管机构的数据显示，很少有赌徒在​​体育博彩中使用类似的工具，因此这些举措的影响可能有限。

科恩表示：“这些限制对于在线体育博彩平台来说是惯例。这些公司显然意识到，从用户的角度来看，这种行为即使不完全等同于赌博，也与赌博类似。”

当被问及这些“负责任交易”工具的有效性时，奥特兰托表示，Polymarket 将跟踪这些工具的使用情况，并可能在未来进行调整。

“随着我们不断发展壮大，让用户能够自主决定如何使用我们的平台，这一点至关重要，”奥特兰托说道。

像 Polymarket 和 Kalshi 这样的预测网站受到美国商品期货交易委员会 (CFTC) 的联邦监管。CFTC 是一个规模较小的联邦机构，历史上大部分时间都花在监管大豆期货和石油衍生品等商品交易上。

但体育博彩市场才是预测热潮的主要驱动力。据数据分析公司TickerTracker的数据显示，本月在Polymarket的美国网站上，体育博彩和与体育相关的多场串关投注占交易量的98%以上。

这也是 Polymarket 和 Kalshi 上的“负责任交易”保障措施与 DraftKings 和 FanDuel 等体育博彩公司的“负责任博彩”政策相似的原因之一。

Polymarket 的副首席法律官 Olivia Chalos 承认了这些相似之处，但她表示，该公司遵循与体育博彩公司不同的商业模式，并希望保护用户，尤其是那些不熟悉金融交易的年轻用户。

查洛斯告诉CNN：“你会看到一个以前从未参与过金融市场的用户群体涌入市场，并且规模庞大。因此，我们需要采取一些措施，因为我们面对的是一群首次参与市场的受众。”

博彩律师约书亚·基尔什纳表示，现有的联邦法律中“没有任何类似规定”能够与州法规中看似“无穷无尽的各种工具”相媲美，这些工具要求赌场和体育博彩公司推广负责任的博彩并打击赌博成瘾。

这也是为什么由 44 个州组成的两党联盟在法庭上辩称，预测平台应该受到州法律的约束，并像赌博一样受到监管的原因之一。

Polymarket 的声明发布一周前，纽约州提起诉讼，试图关闭该公司。

州调查人员表示，Polymarket 正在规避纽约州“对持牌赌博的严格监管”，其中包括禁止未成年用户参与、禁止掠夺性广告、强制资助戒瘾项目以及“自我排除”政策。

Polymarket否认有任何不当行为，并在联邦法院对纽约州提起反诉。纽约州也起诉了Kalshi，Kalshi称此案毫无根据，将会“损害纽约人的利益”。

“这些保护措施对消费者来说是好事，”基尔什纳在谈到宝利市场的新安全措施时说，“但也许这也是为了安抚州监管机构。”

CNN与Kalshi建立了合作关系，并利用其数据报道重大事件。但CNN的编辑人员不允许使用预测平台。