NC Gov. Stein to ban staff from betting on prediction markets with insider info
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- Gov. Josh Stein will sign an order barring some state workers from insider betting.
- The order broadens the NC State Ethics Act, which already outlaws insider trading.
- The order bars cabinet staff from using state resources to engage with prediction markets.
Gov. Josh Stein plans to sign an executive order Wednesday barring a portion of state workers from using what they learn on the job to bet through prediction markets, the governor’s office told The News & Observer.
Leading prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket facilitate wagers on a wide range of current events — from weather to sports to which politicians will appear on certain podcasts and which states President Donald Trump will soon visit.
This insider betting rule will apply to employees of the agencies in Stein’s cabinet, including the departments of commerce, environmental quality, transportation, public safety and adult correction. Stein’s office said the order broadens the North Carolina State Ethics Act, which already outlaws state employee insider trading.
“When people use nonpublic information gained at work to get an unfair advantage, it erodes public trust,” Stein said in a written statement Wednesday.
Kalshi and Polymarket have both grown tremendously in recent years. In contrast to traditional gambling, these sites don’t coordinate bets against “the house,” but rather connect people to enter future contracts. The values of these contracts fluctuate leading up to the events.
Current prediction markets allow bets on whether North Carolina will repeat as the No. 1 state for business in CNBC’s annual rankings and which candidates former President Barack Obama will endorse before the 2026 midterms. Previous markets have involved the impact of coastal hurricanes; disaster preparedness is the responsibility of the state Department of Public Safety.
Stein’s order precludes staff from betting in markets that significantly pertain to their work. It also prevents employees from using state resources to engage in these platforms. The governor is encouraging other Council of State members to issue similar guidance for their employees, his office said.
Two NC men charged with prediction market insider betting
Insider trading concerns have risen alongside the platforms’ popularity. New accounts bet on recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela and Iran hours ahead of those actions. A U.S. Army solider stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville was later charged after allegedly leveraging classified information to make $400,000 betting on the ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.
In February, Kalshi levied one of its first-ever insider trading penalties against a video editor for the North Carolina-based YouTube star MrBeast. The editor, who lived in Greenville, was eventually fired after it was found he bet on markets pertaining to upcoming MrBeast videos.
Prediction markets are regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Traditionally a five-member agency, the CFTC currently has one member, Chairman Michael Selig, a Trump appointee who has been an ally to the emerging prediction markets.
Minnesota this month became the first state to ban prediction markets outright, a move Selig immediately sued to block.
This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:33 AM with the headline "NC Gov. Stein to ban staff from betting on prediction markets with insider info."
