White House warned staff against Iran war bets on prediction markets

•⁠ ⁠The White House, in a March 24 email, warned staff not to make bets related to the U.S. war with Iran on prediction markets.

•⁠ ⁠Prediction market bets placed on the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and on the Iran war have raised concerns that government officials could be profiting from insider trading.

•⁠ ⁠More than $500 million in crude oil futures trades reportedly were made in the roughly 15 minutes before President Donald Trump announced a pause in hostilities against Iran on March 23.

•⁠ ⁠Two Democratic senators, in a letter Friday to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said the same pattern appears to have recurred Tuesday, “in the hours before President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.”