Last updated: 20 October 2026 How much are prediction markets, brokers and exchanges spending to lobby Congress and federal agencies? We pulled every Lobbying Disclosure Act report for 17 organisations from 2024 to 2026 and removed the double counting that inflates simple totals.
Kalshi’s lobbying spend jumped in 2026. It reported $990K for January to June 2026, against $250K in the same half of 2025 and $670K for all of 2025. That’s after removing double counting between Kalshi’s own reports and its outside lobbying firms.
Simple totals overstate spending. Adding up every Kalshi filing gives $1.04M for 2025 and $2.52M for 2026 so far. Many companies file their own report that already includes what they pay outside firms, so the same dollars appear twice. Our deduplicated figures are $670K and $1.29M.
Polymarket lobbies through its parent company. There are no filings under the client name Polymarket or QCX as of 20 October 2026, but Blockratize, Inc. (Polymarket’s parent) reported $360K in 2025.
No prop firms lobby. We found no filings under the client names Topstep, Apex Trader, FTMO, Interactive Brokers, Citadel Securities or tastytrade as of 20 October 2026. The biggest spenders in this group are Coinbase ($3.79M in 2025), Nasdaq ($2.80M) and Charles Schwab ($2.40M).
Federal lobbying by trading and prediction-market companies
Deduplicated lobbying spend reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, by year. Figures for July to September 2026 are incomplete: third-quarter reports are due 20 October 2026, and this column shows what had been filed as of 20 October 2026, 11:49 AM ET.
| Organisation | Type | 2024 | 2025 | Jan–Jun 2026 | Jul–Sep 2026 (filed so far) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | Crypto exchange | $3.88M | $3.79M | $2.23M | $250K |
| Nasdaq | Exchange | $2.06M | $2.80M | $1.59M | $698K |
| Charles Schwab | Retail broker | $3.08M | $2.40M | $1.16M | $480K |
| Crypto.com (Foris DAX) | Crypto exchange / prediction market | $1.09M | $1.99M | $1.16M | $112K |
| FanDuel | Sportsbook / prediction market | $370K | $1.87M | $830K | $360K |
| Intercontinental Exchange | Exchange | $1.60M | $1.66M | $936K | $243K |
| CME Group | Futures exchange | $1.70M | $1.66M | $1.05M | $460K |
| Robinhood | Retail broker | $1.24M | $1.55M | $860K | $410K |
| PrizePicks | Fantasy sports / prediction market | $510K | $1.16M | $592K | $266K |
| Futures Industry Association | Futures trade group | $914K | $1.02M | $660K | $230K |
| DraftKings | Sportsbook / prediction market | $420K | $960K | $695K | $195K |
| Cboe Global Markets | Exchange | $800K | $800K | $480K | $210K |
| Kalshi | Prediction market | $670K | $670K | $990K | $305K |
| Webull | Retail broker | – | $560K | $400K | $200K |
| Polymarket (Blockratize, Inc.) | Prediction market | – | $360K | $180K | – |
| Underdog | Fantasy sports / prediction market | – | $160K | $230K | $40K |
| Coalition for Prediction Markets | Prediction-market trade group | – | – | $100K | $90K |
Why prediction markets are lobbying now
Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket’s US exchange are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as futures exchanges. Several states argue that their sports contracts are really gambling and should need a state licence, and the companies have sued or been sued in many states. The outcome may depend on Congress or the CFTC, which is why spending in Washington has risen. Our prediction-market court tracker follows the cases, and our CFTC rulemaking tracker follows the agency’s rule proposals.
Sportsbooks have moved the other way. DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks and Underdog have all launched or announced prediction-market products, and their lobbying overlaps with the same debate. A new trade group, the Coalition for Prediction Markets, first reported lobbying in the second quarter of 2026.
How the double counting happens
Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, a company with its own lobbyists files a report showing its total lobbying expenses, and that total includes fees paid to outside lobbying firms. Each outside firm also files its own report showing the income it received from that client. Adding the two together counts the outside fees twice.
For each organisation and quarter we took the larger of two numbers: the expenses the organisation reported itself, or the total income reported by all outside firms working for it. That avoids double counting and gives a conservative figure. Where a report was amended, we used only the latest version.
What this means for prop traders
None of the futures prop firms we track lobby in Washington, so the rules that affect them are being shaped by exchanges, brokers and trade groups such as the Futures Industry Association. For the regulators involved, see our CFTC enforcement timeline and the SEC proposed rules tracker.
Sources
- Lobbying Disclosure Act filings API, US Senate Office of Public Records / Clerk of the House, retrieved 20 October 2026, 11:49 AM ET.
- Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance, Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House, accessed 20 October 2026 (expense and income reporting rules, quarterly deadlines).
Method
We searched the LDA API by client name for each organisation for filing years 2024, 2025 and 2026 and grouped all name variants (for example “KALSHI, INC.” and “KALSHI INC.”). Crypto.com files as Foris DAX. Polymarket files as Blockratize, Inc.
Registrations carry no amounts and were excluded. For amended reports we kept the latest version for each lobbying firm, client and quarter. For each quarter we used the larger of the organisation’s own reported expenses and the sum of outside firms’ reported income.
Searches for Polymarket, QCX, Topstep, Apex Trader, FTMO, Interactive Brokers, Citadel Securities and tastytrade as client names returned no filings as of 20 October 2026.
Caveats
LDA amounts are rounded to the nearest $10,000 and are what filers report. Some companies use different accounting methods for the expense figure, so comparisons between companies are approximate.
Our larger-of-two rule can undercount when a company pays outside firms for work that is not in its own report. Totals cover lobbying of Congress and the executive branch only, not state lobbying, campaign contributions or ads.
Third-quarter 2026 reports were still arriving on 20 October 2026, the filing deadline, so that column will rise.
How to cite this
Prop Data Lab, “Federal Lobbying by Trading and Prediction-Market Companies, 2024-2026”, updated 20 October 2026, https://propdatalab.com/trading-prediction-market-lobbying-spend/
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: copy, chart or republish them, commercial use included, as long as you link back to this page. Data: Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (public records).
Common questions
How much does Kalshi spend on lobbying?
Kalshi reported $670K in 2024, $670K in 2025 and $990K in January to June 2026, after removing double counting between its own reports and its outside firms' reports.
Does Polymarket lobby in Washington?
Not under the Polymarket name. Its parent company, Blockratize, Inc., reported $360K of lobbying in 2025 and $180K in January to June 2026.
Do prop trading firms lobby Congress?
We found no Lobbying Disclosure Act filings under the client names Topstep, Apex Trader or FTMO as of 20 October 2026.
When are lobbying reports due?
Quarterly reports are due 20 days after each quarter ends: 20 January, 20 April, 20 July and 20 October.