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House Bill 2198 was introduced in Hawaii, which would see prediction markets be included in the definition of gambling, making them illegal in the US state.
The bill’s summary reads: “Includes prediction markets in the definition of gambling by specifying that the purchase, sale, or financial speculation of securities or commodities on the outcome or future events related to games, contests, people, politics, disasters, and death.”
It was introduced on Monday, January 26 and is a partisan bill by Democrat representatives, with 16 people listed as sponsors. The bill is still in its early stages and it is awaiting introduction with no hearings scheduled at this time.
What does Hawaii prediction markets bill 2198 mean?
In a larger documentHouse Bill 2198 is detailed in more detail because it states that its purpose is to update Hawaii’s gambling laws to expressly prohibit contracts of predictive events related to sports, contests, people, politics, disasters, and death.
It also suggests that recent developments in the consumer-oriented sector of the financial market “allow individuals to create financial incentives and motivations for the events” listed above.
The legislature “found that not only some or all of these types of contracts violate moral and ethical standards, but they also fall victim to a gap in Hawaii gambling laws which allows contracts for the purchase and sale at a future date of securities or commodities.”
As the bill is still new, it can be one to watch and it comes at a time when the prediction markets are facing difficulties in some states despite the rise of the industry.
In Louisiana, the Gaming Control Board is one of the lcertifying states to issue prediction markets introducing sportsbooks. In a press release, they stated that it now views sporting event contracts and “certain other event contracts” as a violation of state gambling laws.
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The post Lawmakers in Hawaii have introduced a bill that would ban prediction markets first appeared in ReadWrite.
