Two Former Congressmen Join Prediction Markets Lobbying Group
Posted on: January 13, 2026, 01:29h.
Last updated on: January 13, 2026, 01:38h.
- Democrat Patrick Maloney joining as president and CEO
- Republican Patrick McHenry on board as a senior advisor
The Coalition for Prediction Markets (CPM), the newly formed lobbying group for that budding industry, said Tuesday that two former congressmen are joining the coalition.
Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat who served in Congress for a decade, is joining the CPM as chief executive officer and president. In a sign of the group’s efforts to be bipartisan, Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who served for 20 years, is coming aboard as a senior advisor.
Maloney joins CPM at a moment when prediction markets are facing mounting efforts by state-level authorities to assert jurisdiction over markets long governed by federal law. As CEO and President, he will oversee CPM’s policy and advocacy efforts to reinforce a consistent federal framework and ensure prediction markets remain transparent, accessible, and responsibly regulated,” according to a statement issued by the trade group.
The coalition was formed last month by Crypto.com and Kalshi. Other members include Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN), Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD), and Underdog.
CPM Appointments Arrive at Critical Juncture
The coalition’s appointments of Maloney and McHenry arrive at an important time for the nascent industry and as it’s facing increasing scrutiny.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) and the Indian Gaming Association (IGA) are pushing Congress to exert more oversight of sports event contracts, which have become volume drivers for yes/no exchanges, on the basis that those derivatives threaten state and tribal gaming laws.
Should Congress decide to take up that matter, having Maloney and McHenry aboard could be valuable, as both have experience germane to prediction markets. The New York Democrat previously chaired the Commodity Markets and Digital Assets Subcommittee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC regulates companies like Kalshi and Polymarket.
McHenry previously chaired the powerful Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. He’s also a senior advisor to investment bank Lazard.
Bipartisanship Matters
The prediction markets industry appears to be getting the message that bipartisanship is important. That’s amplified by the fact that Donald Trump Jr. is an advisor to both Kalshi and Polymarket — the industry’s giants — which has created unfounded speculation that the industry tilts Republican. Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm is also a Polymarket investor.
Other financial backers of prediction market operators, including Bay Area venture capital firms, are left-leaning, and Kalshi’s primary law firm is a major donor to Democrat candidates and committees.
The point is the prediction markets industry, at least as represented by the CPM, appears cognizant that playing partisan politics likely isn’t a winning game, and the appointments of Maloney and McHenry prove the coalition is receiving that message loud and clear.
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