New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin has opened an investigation into the marketing and advertising practices of four major prediction market platforms, writing to Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan to request information about how they promote their products to New Yorkers. The Council announced the inquiry on 12 August 2026.
According to the announcement, the inquiry centres on what the Council describes as potentially false, deceptive or abusive marketing tactics, with particular concern for advertising directed towards young people. The Council said it has spent months looking into allegations of predatory marketing across the prediction market industry, which it says has grown rapidly in the city. At this stage the Council has made no findings against any of the platforms; the letters notify each company of the investigation and ask it to provide information.
What the Council is seeking
Speaker Menin wrote to each of the four platforms, Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan, to notify them of the investigation and to ask each to hand over details of the advertising it directs at New Yorkers. The Council said the exercise is intended to establish the facts and to determine whether additional consumer-protection legislation, enforcement, public-education campaigns, health measures or funding are needed to protect consumers in the city.
‘We refuse to let New Yorkers become collateral damage’
“As a mother of four, I know firsthand the fears that come with raising kids in a world where predatory industries are constantly finding new ways to target them.”
— Julie Menin, Speaker, New York City Council
Speaker Julie Menin said prediction markets “aggressively entice consumers to bet and wager on sports, politics, culture, weather, and pretty much anything. We refuse to let New Yorkers, especially our young people, become collateral damage. As a regulatory attorney and the former Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, I take consumer protection extremely seriously. I intend to harness the full power of the Council to protect New Yorkers from deceptive and predatory marketing practices by prediction market platforms.”
The Council noted that, as Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Speaker Menin oversaw investigations into a number of industries, including for-profit colleges, fraudulent auto loans, unlicensed secondhand gun sellers and debt collectors, several of them concerning questionable or deceptive marketing.
A fact-finding approach
Deputy Speaker Dr Nantasha Williams framed the inquiry as a measured, evidence-led process. “Good government requires us to ask questions, examine the facts, and make informed decisions, particularly as new and emerging industries reach more New Yorkers,” she said. “We also have to recognise the potential harms associated with these platforms, particularly when it comes to young people, compulsive wagering, and how these products are marketed to consumers… New Yorkers deserve a process that takes these concerns seriously, follows the facts, and allows us to determine the appropriate path forward.”
Council Member Harvey Epstein, chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, pointed to the sector’s scale, saying the Council has “a responsibility to investigate their claims and the advertising tactics these companies are using to ensure they are following the law.”
“Online prediction markets are surging in popularity, with some projecting $300 billion in volume on the platforms this year.”
— Harvey Epstein, Council Member and Chair, Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection
The allegations the Council will examine
A central strand of the inquiry concerns Polymarket. The Council said it would look into claims that the platform had used, or permitted, social-media influencers to draw young adults into betting on “event contracts” by means it characterised as false and deceptive. Among the specific concerns it set out were paid influencer promotions that were not disclosed as advertising; promotional videos that allegedly showed fabricated trades on sites made to resemble Polymarket’s own; losing positions presented as though they had been profitable; and the encouragement of insider trading. The Council stressed that these are matters it intends to test through its investigation, and the companies have been invited to respond.
Council Member Shekar Krishnan, chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, said the investigation was launched to establish whether such practices are widespread. “Apps like Polymarket are expanding rapidly unchecked,” he said, adding that he would “hold these corporations responsible.”
A gap in the rules
The Council argued that the inquiry is made more pressing by a gap in oversight: the safeguards and advertising limits that apply to casinos and to licensed online sports betting do not currently extend to prediction markets. Establishing whether the practices in question are widespread across the industry, it said, is central to deciding what legislation, regulation or programmes may be required.
What happens next
Alongside the letters, the Council said it is planning a public hearing and intends to hear from a range of stakeholders as it deepens its understanding of the market. The outcome of the inquiry will inform whether the Council pursues new consumer-protection measures.
This article is based on the New York City Council’s official announcement of 12 August 2026. The allegations described are the subject of the Council’s investigation and have not been established as findings; the platforms named have been notified and asked to provide information.
