Prediction markets arrive at Supreme Court’s doorstep

Prediction markets’ regulation draws closer to Supreme Court

Prediction markets have arrived at the Supreme Court’s doorstep.

New Jersey this past week urged the justices to settle how prediction markets should be regulated, and a split among the nation’s appeals courts is increasing expectations that they may be inclined to get involved.

The Trump administration is trying to push states out, hoping to keep prediction markets under federal control. Leading platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket agree.

But a bipartisan group of states wants to be the overseers. They say the new platforms are no different from regular gambling, which they regulate with broad control.

“It’s not just blue states or Democrats who are being opposed by the Trump administration. It’s really a states’ issue,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, acting vice president of policy and government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight.

As trading volume on prediction markets explodes, it has created a massive battle among casino industry players, states, Native American tribes and federal regulators.

New Jersey has now teed up the issue for the Supreme Court for the first time after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit , in a 2-1 vote, blocked the state from enforcing its sports gambling laws against Kalshi, finding it was likely under the control of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Breaking with the appeals panel in New Jersey’s case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided last week with Nevada regulators. It ruled the state can regulate Kalshi’s sports contracts.

The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld has the full report.

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Hunter Biden , son of former President Biden, announced Monday that he’s debuting a meme coin, traded under the ticker $LAPTOP, in reference to the political controversy that has swarmed him since 2020 over his personal laptop.

Hunter Biden teased the launch, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, with a video that compiled clips of news outlets and politicians referencing the laptop.

$LAPTOP will launch on the crypto exchange Base, a global platform built by Coinbase, on Sept. 9.

Meme coins do not carry any intrinsic value, but they often surge in price because of social media hype around their launch. Other politicians and celebrities have launched their own coins, including President Trump and first lady Melania Trump . Both surged in value when launched before eventually crashing.

The 1 billion tokens issued of $LAPTOP will go to its founders, including Biden; crypto wallets whose owners lost money on the president’s meme coin; subscribers to Biden’s Substack; and people on a mailing list curated by a friend of Biden’s, Andrew Callaghan, according to the Journal.

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