Main Street Independent

White House probe finds it can't track staff bets on prediction markets

Illustration accompanying article: White House probe finds it can't track staff bets on prediction markets
  • The White House Counsel's Office investigated anonymous Polymarket accounts that bet over $600,000 on a U.S.-Iran ceasefire announcement and concluded it could not determine whether administration officials were behind the wagers, according to people familiar with the matter.
  • Trump teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez is under CFTC investigation for making over $100,000 in wagers based on early access to presidential speeches, the White House confirmed this week.
  • Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.) allegedly told influencer Rogan O'Handley that Trump would pick JD Vance as his running mate so he could place a winning bet on Polymarket, according to a person familiar with the conversation; both denied wrongdoing.
  • A former investment banker said he placed a $900 bet on Vance after receiving a tip from a Heritage Foundation research associate, who now works as a White House policy adviser.
  • The Senate passed a resolution in April banning senators and their staff from betting on prediction markets, and the House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into potential insider trading.
 2026-07-18 · 5 MIN READ

Trump's crypto ventures net $1.2 billion as economists warn of financial instability

Illustration accompanying article: Trump's crypto ventures net $1.2 billion as economists warn of financial instability
  • President Donald Trump made $1.2 billion from cryptocurrency ventures in his first year in office, according to a report in The Guardian, as his administration dismantled federal crypto enforcement.
  • Trump earned the bulk of his $2.2 billion first-year personal fortune from crypto, including a memecoin that netted him over $600 million while costing investors nearly $4 billion, The Guardian reported.
  • The administration dismantled the Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto enforcement unit and pushed through the Genius Act, which integrated uninsured stablecoins into the U.S. banking system.
  • Economists from Yale, the University of Michigan, Rutgers, and the University of California, Berkeley have warned that the opaque and unregulated stablecoin market could trigger a systemic financial crisis.
 2026-07-18 · 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Figures defends Alabama seat after Supreme Court redraws district