00:00So tell us more about the Senate and certainly if there was anything that you learned from it, which seems
00:05to be a lot of people feel one way, a lot of people feel another way, and then we just
00:08keep moving on with prediction markets being alive.
00:12Yeah, I'm not sure how much we learned from it, but it is interesting. Senate Commerce Committee, one of their
00:17subcommittees held a hearing just this morning, just wrapped up a little like half an hour or so ago, called
00:22No Sure Bets, Protecting Sports Integrity in America.
00:24Now it sounds a lot like a hearing that's going to be about sports betting, right? And it was, and
00:29it is about integrity, but most of that hearing was spent talking about prediction markets and how some of the
00:35members of the Senate who are on this committee don't really like prediction markets and what's happening with them.
00:40That was, I'd say, the overarching theme of this hearing that was going on. And most of the members seem
00:47not to like it, right? That is, we saw Senator Ted Cruz kind of equate prediction markets to sports betting.
00:53We had folks from Nevada, New Mexico, states that do not like prediction markets, kind of usurping their sports betting
01:00industries. They were pretty negative on prediction markets.
01:03So the most interesting data point is just that senators are interested in this topic. You know, the answers we
01:09heard, we heard from the American Gaming Association, we heard from the Coalition for Prediction Markets, and other folks, and
01:15not to dismiss what these people say, but we've heard these answers before.
01:17They talk about these things. I know the answers before they give them. And that's interesting. But again, the most
01:23interesting data point is that senators are talking about this and very concerned about prediction markets in a way that
01:28they weren't three to four months ago.
01:30So, you know, I listened to this hearing. And, you know, the question is, does this become more than just
01:35chatter? People like to talk about things on Capitol Hill. Does this turn into something meaningful?
01:41The Senate has passed a resolution banning senators and their staff from trading on prediction markets. But does all this
01:47negative energy and kind of desire to rein all this in, does that turn into material action by the Senate,
01:54by Congress?
01:55I'm pretty skeptical of that, as always. But again, if we were handicapping this, I would have said no chance,
02:00like heading into 2026. And now the Senate and a lot of members of Congress are very interested in this
02:05topic.
02:05So we'll have to wait and see what comes of this. But the Senate hearing is a step along that
02:10path.
02:11Okay, fair enough. We'll see. All right. So Calci apparently has joined the NCPG to become the first financial services
02:19and trading category member to advance trader health and safety.
02:23But hold on here. I thought that this was for the gaming companies.
02:29It's yeah, I mean, gambling's there in the name, right? It's part of what's the National Council on Problem Gambling
02:35does.
02:35But Calci has found a way to thread the needle to be involved and try to be proactive. And I'd
02:41applaud this, right?
02:43Calci and prediction markets have tried to avoid the gambling moniker as much as possible for legal reasons. We've talked
02:51about ad nauseum on this on this show, but they're embracing it and saying, you know what, these things can
02:57be addictive, even if it's not, quote unquote, gambling in the traditional sense that we should be working on this.
03:03So they made a donation of $2 million to the NCPG. They've created a new, this new category about financial
03:10services. And, you know, again, good. Let's, let's do that. Because just, just saying this isn't gambling is not sustainable.
03:17You know, it's not, it's, it's going up to the line, right? That's, it's not saying it's gambling, but it's
03:22partnering with a, with a, with a group whose goal is to help people with problem gambling, right?
03:26So I, I'm not like people will poo poo this, but I'm going to say this is good. Uh, that,
03:31you know, Calci has been resistant, but is trying to do something. Um, it would be great if we just
03:36said it's gambling and we're able to admit that, but short of that, I'm not going to say that being
03:41involved with the NCPG is a bad thing. So, um, I hope other prediction markets do that. I hope everybody
03:46kind of realizes there's harm that can come from this and that we do something about it and not just
03:51kind of wash it away and say, oh, it's just like the stock market's investing. It's not those things. It
03:55is, you know, uh,
03:56the, the, the number that we repeat all the time, 85 to 90% right now of, of activity at
04:01prediction markets is on sports event contracts, uh, basically sports betting. And, you know, that is that there's harm that
04:07comes with that and acknowledging that and dealing with that reality, I think is a really important step.
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