The DOGE prediction markets crossover is getting harder to ignore. WIRED reported that Polymarket hired Jonathan Mendelson, a former affiliate of the Department of Government Efficiency, as a senior strategic executive late last year, while another DOGE veteran, Elie Mishory, has taken a top legal and regulatory role at Novig.
The hires matter because prediction market companies are trying to grow while regulators, lawmakers, and courts argue over what these products are allowed to do. Polymarket is facing an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to WIRED. The company declined to comment to WIRED, and the Securities and Exchange Commission did not respond to its requests for comment.
Mendelson worked at Accel, the San Francisco venture capital firm, before his DOGE stint, according to WIRED. While affiliated with DOGE, he was technically employed by the General Services Administration and advised SEC chair Paul Atkins. WIRED reported that Mendelson spent less than a year in that government role.
Why are DOGE veterans joining prediction markets?
The short version: prediction market firms need people who understand Washington, and DOGE affiliates have been working near the agencies now central to the industry’s future. These companies are pushing into products that critics say resemble sports betting, while their leaders argue they belong closer to commodities and futures markets.
Mishory’s path shows the revolving door more clearly. WIRED reported that he previously worked at the CFTC, where he helped shape the agency’s approach to prediction markets. In 2025, he served as Kalshi’s general counsel and chief regulatory officer before leaving to lead DOGE’s work at the SEC, where he worked with Mendelson.
In June, Mishory joined Novig, a sports-focused prediction market startup, as chief regulatory and legal affairs officer. In Novig’s announcement, cofounder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky said Mishory had been involved in major regulatory shifts that moved prediction markets from a niche idea into a national policy fight.
Mishory told WIRED that joining a prediction market company was a “natural dovetail” from his DOGE work at the SEC. He said his DOGE role centered on speaking with staff, finding administrative changes, and removing redundant software rather than cutting employees.
He also told WIRED that his DOGE experience was unusual because staffing reductions were not his focus. The SEC lost 18 percent of its workforce in 2025, according to the Government Accountability Office, though WIRED noted that most of those departures came through voluntary buyouts.
What is the regulatory fight about?
Prediction market operators have gained users and political attention, and regulators are now testing where the line sits between event contracts, gambling, and federally regulated derivatives. State regulators and federal lawmakers have called for tighter rules, arguing that the markets can enable corruption and run afoul of state gambling laws.
The industry has also found allies in the Trump orbit. WIRED reported that Donald Trump Jr. advises both Polymarket and Kalshi, and that Truth Social, owned by the Trump family’s media company, has a marketing partnership with Crypto.com’s prediction market product.
The personnel moves put former government insiders inside companies whose business models depend on regulatory interpretation. That does not settle whether prediction markets are lawful, useful, or dressed-up sportsbooks. It does show that the fight over the rules is now also a fight over who has the best contacts, agency memory, and appetite for risk.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
