This article was originally published in Bloomberg Law and is republished here with permission as it originally appeared on August 21, 2026.
Prediction market trades on election-related matters have become one of the most closely tracked gauges of political life in the US.
On July 28, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York entered a judgment against Papaya Gaming Ltd. in Skillz Platform Inc. v. Papaya Gaming Ltd., No. 1:24-cv-01646. The ruling followed an April jury verdict of $420 million in damages; the court separately awarded $719 million in disgorgement—an alternative remedy the plaintiff may elect in lieu of damages—along with $10.1 million in attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit stemmed from Papaya’s alleged misrepresentation that its mobile cash tournament games rewarded player skill, when the outcomes were instead shaped by undisclosed bots designed to replicate a house advantage.
Key points: Troutman Pepper Locke’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy + Enforcement (RISE) and Privacy + Cyber + AI practice groups worked with the firm’s innovation team using AI to collect and curate five years of data concerning state AG activities and actions related to privacy, security, and AI. This Regulatory Intelligence offering provides firm clients
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Stephen Piepgrass sits down with colleagues Dave Navetta and Dan Waltz to explore how state AG enforcement is accelerating across privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, and to introduce Troutman Pepper Locke’s AI-fueled Regulatory Intelligence Platform.
In this crossover episode of Payments Pros and Regulatory Oversight, Stephen Piepgrass and Keith Barnett provide an update on the fast-developing prediction markets landscape. They discuss how federal and state regulators are responding to the growth of event contracts and the legal questions surrounding this emerging market. The conversation highlights the CFTC’s continued focus on oversight, market integrity, and the need for platforms to maintain strong controls to detect and prevent manipulation or other improper trading activity.
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, co-host Stephen Piepgrass sits down with Jay Dubow and Ghillaine Reid, co-leaders of the firm’s Securities Investigation + Enforcement practice, to explore how the SEC’s enforcement agenda is evolving under Chairman Paul Atkins and what that means for public companies, financial institutions, and their executives.
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Stephen Piepgrass is joined by his new colleague Jason Smith, a veteran Senate lawyer and strategist who spent more than 15 years on Capitol Hill. Jason’s tenure includes advising Senators John Fetterman, Patty Murray, and Mark Begich on high-stakes issues ranging from voting rights and immigration reform to pharmaceutical policy and international trade.
This article was originally published in Dow Jones Risk Journal and is republished here with permission as it originally appeared on May 4, 2026.
Prediction markets allow users to trade event contracts on real-world events, such as election outcomes, sporting events and even the highest temperature in New York City today. Seemingly overnight, they have achieved mainstream prominence. Since 2025, Kalshi’s user base alone has grown from approximately 600,000 to more than 5,000,000.
Stephen Piepgrass, leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy + Enforcement Practice Group, was quoted in the May 2, 2026, DeFi Rate article, “Markets Favor El-Sayed in Michigan Democratic Senate Primary as Polls Stay Split.”
On March 11, Kalshi filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa against Attorney General (AG) Brenna Bird and members of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. Kalshi’s complaint asks the court to declare that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) “exclusive jurisdiction” over trading on designated contract markets preempt Iowa’s gambling and election‑wagering provisions as applied to Kalshi’s event contracts.