Congress Expands Prediction Market Insider Trading Probe

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has expanded a congressional investigation into potential insider trading on prediction markets, requesting information from Hyperliquid, Crypto.com and PredictIt owner Aristotle Exchange.

The move broadens an inquiry that began in May with Polymarket and Kalshi. The committee has been examining how prediction platforms verify users and detect suspicious trading involving potentially nonpublic information.

Comer’s latest scrutiny of Hyperliquid centers on a massive crypto short reportedly opened shortly before President Donald Trump publicly announced tariff-related news. The letter does not identify the trader.

One closely watched Hyperliquid position that day involved approximately $1.1 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum shorts, according to an Investing.com analysis cited in the original report. The wallet reportedly increased its position about one minute before Trump’s announcement and later generated more than $150 million in profit as roughly $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated.

Blockchain investigators have linked the wallet to Garrett Jin, a former BitForex CEO. Jin has denied engaging in insider trading and said he was executing trades on behalf of a client.

Hyperliquid’s blockchain structure means individual trades and wallet activity can be publicly tracked, but blockchain addresses do not necessarily reveal the identities of the people controlling them. That issue has become a focus of the congressional investigation, particularly regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and cooperation with U.S. law enforcement.

Crypto.com operates a regulated prediction-market service for U.S. customers covering areas including politics, sports and economic events, while PredictIt has offered political event contracts for years.

Comer initially requested records from Kalshi and Polymarket in May, asking how the companies verify domestic and international users, enforce geographic restrictions and identify unusual trading activity. The committee cited several cases involving allegedly suspicious bets based on nonpublic government information.

Hyperliquid, Crypto.com and Aristotle Exchange are now being asked to provide details about their identity-verification systems and procedures for detecting suspicious transactions as Congress widens its examination of prediction-market trading.