'Alarm bells' ring in White House as lawyers try to track prediction market bets: report

The Trump White House is scrambling to ensure hundreds of aides aren't using inside information to get rich on prediction market bets, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

White House lawyers have been frantically grilling insiders ever since five anonymous Polymarket accounts made big bets that President Donald Trump and Iran would reach an initial ceasefire by the end of April, the Journal reported.

"Alarm bells went off inside the White House Counsel’s Office earlier this year," the Journal stated. "Senior officials privately raised concerns that the users may have leveraged inside information to secure an easy payday on the prediction market."

Three anonymous Polymarket accounts made over $600,000 correctly betting on the April ceasefire announcement, according to blockchain research firm Bubblemaps.

In response, White House lawyers asked staff who could be making the bets but ran into an immediate problem, the Journal reported.

"It would be nearly impossible to determine whether administration officials were behind the bets because Polymarket allows users to open accounts anonymously," the lawyers realized, according to the report.

"The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the agency charged with regulating the prediction markets, has requested information from both Kalshi and Polymarket regarding wagers related to political and military events."

The CFTC is also looking into allegations that Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and right-wing influencer Rogan O'Handley traded insider information on Trump's pick for vice president during the 2024 presidential election, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

O'Handley denied the allegations or knowledge of an investigation and Luna responded in a statement, "I am honored the WSJ thinks I am telepathic but unfortunately I am not."