White House staff were warned last month not to use insider information to place bets on predictions markets.

The email was sent to staff on 24 March, a day after US President Donald Trump announced a five-day pause on his threat to attack Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.

It referred to press reports that raised concerns over government officials using non-public information to place bets on platforms like Kalshi or Polymarket.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the BBC that “any implication that Administration officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”

Ingle also said that all federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of insider information for financial gain.

  • AirBreather@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Is this the kind of “warning” like those “warnings” they put on grape concentrate products during Prohibition to help you avoid “accidentally” using it to make wine?

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      No, I believe this is legit. They sent this warning because they’ve figured out this is a legitimate risk for them, a situation that not even their store-bought judges can fix for them. The emphatic White House denial is proof that it’s happening.

      • voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 days ago

        Yeah this is also typical for any job when you have insider information, the underlings all get strongly worded warnings not to use any info to their advantage while the ones in charge silently use it to their best capability and chastise anyone else using the same info.

        You have to look at actions rather than words/warnings when you see this.

        • dhork@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Gambling regulations in the US are mainly left up to individual States. That could explain the situation, because if a Federal official opens themselves up to a State prosecution then Daddy Trump may not be able to help them.

    • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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      2 days ago

      No, insider trading is illegal in most countries. This isn’t a new rule - just a reminder of an existing one.

    • Null User Object@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      No, that’s the problem. Other staffers kept beating him and Eric to the market and pushing the odds before they could get their own bet in.

  • Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    Self serving aside, this is one of the greatest threats to any entity’s opsec with massive bet spikes acting as an early warning system to its foes.

    • cunnililgus@sopuli.xyz
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      21 hours ago

      Voidzilla said in his video that people were using these markets to know if they should go to a bomb shelter or not.

  • DeepThought42@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Ingle also said that all federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of insider information for financial gain.

    That’s rich considering his boss is the Conman in Chief

  • MrSulu@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    Yes, yes, this must be strictly reserved for the Trump inner circle.

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Epstein won powerball and KKKaroline Levit’s brother won a million dollar jackpot on one of these platforms so I think all this kind of stuff is completely rigged

  • Paragone@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Social-pressure doesn’t control Putin, it doesn’t control Netanyahu, it doesn’t control Trump, & these turkeys want to pretend that it’ll control insider-trading??

    Incompetence.

    Automatic laws, with teeth.

    Required.

    Always has been required.

    Human-nature makes it be required, because social-pressure, aka “political will”, isn’t reliable.

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