Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff are among the elected officials pushing back against prediction market platforms after more than $1 million was wagered on the devastating 2025 wildfires, whose impacts continue to reverberate.
As the Palisades and Eaton fires scorched Los Angeles communities, destroying more than 11,000 homes and upending people’s lives, users placed bets on questions including: “How many acres will the Palisades wildfire burn in total?” and “Will all wildfires be fully contained by February?”
Stream Los Angeles News for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HEREAccording to an Aug. 3 letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman, nine U.S. senators are demanding that “guardrails” be put in place to prevent people from profiting from wildfires and other deadly disasters. Padilla and Schiff also said such wagers raise safety and arson concerns.
John Ford, an Eaton Fire survivor who lost his home, said he was “outraged” to hear that some people were benefiting from his hardship.
“I just feel like you’re turning our human suffering and climate disasters into a casino game,” Ford said. “I think money sometimes wrongly drives whether we make a decision to do something or not — and that’s painful for all of our communities.”
In a statement to NBC Los Angeles, Polymarket said that when tragedies strike, “people turn to news for commentary, and they come to Polymarket for information.”
“While we are not blind to the risks, removing these markets does not prevent a tragedy but makes the most accurate information less accessible to the people who need it most,” Polymarket said.
The senators are asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to respond by Aug. 14.
