The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana became the first sovereign tribal nation to launch a prediction-market platform, rolling out SaltTrade Derivatives on Kalshi infrastructure. The tribe controls branding, marketing and customer service, while Kalshi provides exchange functions, clearing and oversight.
The launch came two days after the Ninth Circuit ruled in favour of the Blue Lake Rancheria and Chicken Ranch Rancheria tribes in their suit against Kalshi. The court found that event contracts on sports outcomes qualify as Class III gaming under IGRA when placed from reservation territory. Leaders of 17 tribal organisations had earlier told the CFTC that federal regulation of prediction markets threatens both tribal gaming revenue and sovereignty.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour called the SaltTrade rollout proof that prediction markets and tribal economic development need not conflict. The model gives tribes access to a federally regulated exchange with nationwide liquidity, he said.
Investigations: Polymarket and DraftKings
The Wall Street Journal reported compliance failures at Polymarket. In February one payment processor flagged over 80% of deposits as fraudulent. Attackers linked stolen cards to accounts and attempted to withdraw at least $10m. A July breach compromised nearly 500 users when attackers exploited stolen personal data to gain account access. The CFTC is investigating Polymarket.
The New York Times found that DraftKings used machine learning to target promotions at customers likely to lose more after receiving bonuses. The online-casino model estimated how much a customer would lose per dollar of promotional spend; a similar technique has been deployed for sports betting. The company built but did not deploy a model to identify players at risk of problem gambling.
