Comment on CFTC-2026-0331, CFTC-2026-0331-0001, Kathy, Gilroy

Prediction markets are becoming the equivalent of the Great Louisiana Lottery Scandal, which involved lottery outlets on every corner in the 1890s. That Scandal led to the almost-total abolition of legal gambling because of the crime and corruption associated with it. Prediction markets function as gambling. This was very well-explained in the comment on this site from the National Council on Problem Gambling. The similarity of prediction markets to the Great Louisiana Lottery Scandal is in the infiltration of gambling, in the form of prediction markets, into every facet of everyday life. Bets can be placed on any manner of event, from whether someone says a particular word to what day someone will die. The ubiquity of gambling, which rears its ugly face in the face of American citizens, no matter where they turn, is leading to unprecedented problems. The problems associated with gambling, in the form of prediction markets, were very well-explained in the comment on this site from Stop Predatory Gambling. I refer any readers of my comment to those two prior comments. I totally agree with Les Bernal and Dr. Noah Goodall of StopPredatoryGambling.org, who explain in six headings how online gambling companies are using predatory and manipulative practices to prey on young adults and teens by claiming that they are prediction-market platforms. Prediction markets need to be reined in and regulated before the updated history-of-gambling includes the "Great Prediction Markets Scandal".