Several Democratic senators in the United States have urged the CFTC to explicitly ban prediction market contracts involving death.

PANews reported on February 24 that, according to CNBC, six Democratic senators sent a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig, urging him to explicitly ban prediction market contracts that "incentivize personal injury or death." The senators stated in the letter that such contracts "pose a dangerous national security risk" and requested the CFTC to "clearly reiterate its absolute prohibition of any contract that is based on or highly correlated with the death of an individual."

The letter states that, under federal commodity exchange regulations, the CFTC has “absolutely prohibited” contracts involving or referencing terrorism, assassination, war, or similar activities. The senators also cited three recent Polymarket contract cases: one concerning an explosion during a NASA manned space mission, another concerning the removal of Venezuelan leader Maduro from power, and a third concerning the Russian military's capture of a Ukrainian town. The letter notes that these contracts “highlight the dangerous incentives associated with contracts falling under categories prohibited by the Commodity Exchange Act.” Last week, the CFTC filed a legal opinion in a federal appeals court arguing that the agency has exclusive jurisdiction over the commodity derivatives market and that states have no right to exercise such regulation.