Thomas Peterffy, the billionaire founder of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) told Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast that insider trading laws should be abolished across all markets.



The timing is notable. 



The White House just warned its own staff that prediction market insider trading is a criminal offense, and the CFTC has declared it a top enforcement priority. Peterffy is arguing in the opposite direction.



<h2>He Learned The Hard Way</h2>



In 1977, Peterffy was a new options trader on the American Stock Exchange floor with $200,000 in saved capital. 



He sold 200 near-expiration call options at $0.375 each after getting caught up in a flurry of unusual order flow. 



Trading halted 30 minutes later. DuPont announced blowout earnings and a stock split. 



The options reopened at $4.50. He lost $90,000, nearly half his starting capital.



He still thinks the laws should go.



<h2>Why He Wants Them Gone</h2>



Peterffy’s argument is that enforcement creates a wider window for exploitation, not a narrower one. 



In merger and acquisition situations, he said, information inevitably leaks through secretaries, lawyers, and their families. Without insider trading laws, “you could be a shark for a second or two, but that’s it.” 



Under the current system, “sharks can be around for weeks and months.”



The argument goes beyond prediction markets. He wants it for equities, futures, everything.



<h2>Interactive Brokers</h2>



Peterffy said IBKR built a prediction market system roughly ten years ago but shelved it after consultants warned it would jeopardize the company’s banking license application. 



He then tried to buy Kalshi about five years ago. They wouldn’t give him a price.



IBKR is up roughly 72% over the past year, and the core brokerage business gives Peterffy room to experiment. 



The company posted $1.64 billion in Q4 2025 revenue on a 79% pretax margin, and March data showed client accounts up 31% year over year to 4.75 million with $789.4 billion in client equity.



The company reports Q1 results on April 21.



Image: Shutterstock

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Thomas Peterffy, founder of Interactive Brokers, advocates for the abolition of insider trading laws across all markets, arguing that current enforcement allows for greater exploitation. He shared his personal experience of losing $90,000 due to insider trading laws in 1977. Peterffy believes that without these laws, information leaks would be less harmful, as traders would only have a brief opportunity to act on insider information. Interactive Brokers has seen significant growth, with a 72% increase in stock value over the past year and strong client account growth.

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Interactive Brokers Founder Lost $90,000 To Insider Trading But Now Wants It Legalized