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- A new commentary suggests forcing Americans to use physical cash to fund online sports betting and prediction market accounts.
- The author argues this added friction would reduce impulsive problem gambling while exposing unusually large wagers and insider trading.
A new commentary published Sept. 24, 2026 argues that requiring Americans to use cash for bets or to fund gambling accounts could reduce problem gambling, insider abuse and other risks tied to the rapid expansion of U.S. sports betting and prediction markets.
The piece, published by The Conversation, comes as U.S. gambling continues to grow after the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. NCAA and as prediction market platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket draw more attention from regulators and policymakers. The author’s central claim is that betting has become too frictionless online and that a cash requirement would slow wagering behavior while making large bets easier to detect.
Proposal would add friction to digital betting
The article says American casinos, sportsbooks, and the growing online casino sector generated US$79 billion in 2025, up nearly 20% from US$66.5 billion two years earlier. Against that backdrop, the author proposes forcing gamblers to use paper money when making bets or funding their accounts.
According to the commentary, that change would do several things at once: make impulsive betting harder, expose unusually large wagers because bettors would need to produce stacks of bills, and make it more difficult to quietly move money into gambling activity.
The article also suggests a limited pre-funding model in which players could load accounts with cash, but making it illegal to load someone else’s account or exceed a weekly cap. It notes that cash transactions of $10,000 or more already trigger a Currency Transaction Report.
Author ties proposal to addiction and insider-trading concerns
The commentary frames three major gambling risks as addiction, insider trading and the influence of anonymous high-stakes bettors, or “whales.” It cites the World Health Organization’s estimate that about 1.2% of the world has a gambling problem, while U.S. estimates put the figure at about 20 million Americans, or roughly 6% of the population.
It also points to recent scandals as evidence that easier betting access can create broader risks. Among the examples cited are allegations involving the chief of police in New Haven, Connecticut, reported betting by major basketball stars, politicians wagering on election outcomes, and an April 23, 2026 case in which a Special Forces soldier was charged with using classified information to profit more than $400,000 on prediction market bets related to Nicolás Maduro.
What the proposal could mean for operators and retail venues
The author argues that a cash-based system would not eliminate gambling harm, but could reduce it while shifting some economic activity toward in-person businesses such as convenience stores, bars and similar retail locations. The article says jobs tied to online gambling and related activity reached almost 70,000 in 2007, fell to 47,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic and rebounded to 67,000 in 2024.
The piece does not identify any lawmakers backing a cash-betting mandate, and it presents the idea as a policy proposal rather than a filed bill or regulatory action. It also says gambling companies would likely oppose such a change and spend heavily to fight it.
For now, the proposal adds to a broader debate over whether U.S. gambling regulation should focus not only on legal access, but also on how easily players can place a bet once that access exists.
Source: As reported by theconversation.com.
