The US is betting on AI to crack down on insider trading in the prediction markets

Many years ago, it seemed like prediction markets it ushered in a new era of deception. Get started Polimamarketmerchants gained wealth from questionable time betting on geopolitical events such as the revolution in Venezuela and the war in Iran. It was unclear whether the US government would bother to go after some of the worst actors, as the crypto-based platform Polymarket was technically offshore and not operated or licensed in the country.

Now, however, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees the futures markets, wants you to know that it is watching closely. The agency is looking into suspicious behavior from U.S. traders who have been hacking foreign markets, including the Polymarket crypto platform – which is closed by the government – using private networks. “We’re going to find them, and we’re going to take action,” agency chairman Michael Selig told WIRED this week, speaking from CFTC headquarters in Washington, DC.

Selig says the agency, which is currently on hold, is working. Like many other AI-powered workplaces, the CFTC is also leaning toward a growing role, including tools that analyze trading patterns and flag fraud. “You have a lot of information,” Selig said. “When we feed it into AI, we get really good information. It can help us understand things, like where we might want to search, or when we might need to issue a subpoena to a merchant.”

In addition to management systems developed in-house, the organization’s tools include a third party. blockchain tracking tools such as Chainalysis for crypto platforms, and market abuse detection software including Nasdaq Smarts for mid-markets. (Contrary to Nasdaq Smarts, the agency did not specify the AI ​​tools it uses and declined to share specific examples.)