Prediction Platform Polymarket Rolls Out US App Today After CFTC Approval

 Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform, has officially launched a U.S.-focused app following approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

Against all odds.

Polymarket’s U.S app is now being rolled out to those on the waitlist.

We’re launching with sports — followed by markets on everything. pic.twitter.com/WOoVMszrqc

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) December 3, 2025

The move lifts nearly four years of restrictions preventing American users from participating in its blockchain-powered prediction markets.

Initially available in the App Store under the sports category, the app allows U.S. users to place bets on sports events, with plans to expand into other markets including proposition bets and election wagers. 

The app is opening access gradually, inviting users from a previously established waitlist, though not all applicants have received invitations yet.

As Bitcoin Magazine details below, Polymarket bypassed the traditional, multi-year CFTC registration process by acquiring QCEX, an already-registered platform, for $112 million in July. 

The company received a no-action letter from the CFTC in September, allowing it to resume operations legally in the U.S. after its 2022 settlement over unregistered event contracts.

Polymarket’s CFTC approval

In November, Polymarket secured an Amended Order of Designation from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to operate as an intermediated trading platform under the full set of federal rules for U.S. exchanges. 

We’re thrilled to share that we've received CFTC approval for intermediation, paving the way for seamless access to polymarkets through registered brokers & financial institutions.

Coming soon to a trading platform near you. pic.twitter.com/2m72ZwCdtA

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) November 25, 2025

The approval enabled the platform to onboard brokerages and customers directly, allowing users to trade through futures commission merchants (FCMs) and access traditional custody, reporting, and market infrastructure.

To comply with the CFTC’s requirements, Polymarket upgraded its systems, introducing enhanced market surveillance, supervision policies, clearing procedures, and Part 16 regulatory reporting. 

The platform remains fully subject to the Commodity Exchange Act and other CFTC regulations, including self-regulatory obligations.

The platform had been barred from operating in the U.S. in 2022 after offering unregistered derivatives contracts. Its return followed the acquisition of QCEX, a regulated contract market and clearinghouse, for $112 million, which enabled the company to bypass a lengthy registration process.

 Earlier this year, the platform also introduced support for direct bitcoin deposits, allowing users to fund accounts with BTC alongside stablecoins like USDC and USDT.

The platform has attracted significant investor interest. In November, reports indicated that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is considering a $2 billion investment that could value Polymarket between $8 billion and $10 billion. 

Earlier funding discussions reportedly placed the company’s valuation at $12–15 billion. Investors also include 1789 Capital, backed by Donald Trump Jr.

Polymarket’s competitors, such as Kalshi, are also expanding, with Kalshi recently Kalshi raising $1 billion at a $11 billion valuation, doubling value in under two months

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/prediction-platform-polymarket-rolls-out-us-app-today-after-cftc-approval

California launches portal for public to report alleged ICE wrongdoing

California has launched an online portal to allow the public to send videos, photos and other evidence of possible crimes committed by ​federal immigration agents, joining other states that have launched similar efforts in response to ‌President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on undocumented migrants.

U.S. immigration agents, often masked and employing aggressive tactics, have carried out large-scale ‌operations in Los Angeles and other cities. Immigrant rights groups across the U.S. have frequently accused federal agents of using unnecessarily violent tactics to intimidate immigrant communities and of detaining people indiscriminately.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration agents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but ⁠has defended its agents' actions in ‌the past and said it is lawfully carrying out Trump's orders to deport people who are illegally in the U.S.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office said ‍in a social media post that the portal was meant to "assist members of the public in sharing information" so that the state's Department of Justice can "create a record of potential unlawful conduct by federal agents, and ​inform possible legal actions the state may take to protect Californians' rights."

The portal's site states ‌that "examples of potentially unlawful activity by federal law enforcement agents include use of excessive force, unlawful searches or arrests, wrongful detentions, interference with voting, or other civil-rights violations."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in September urged residents to take videos of federal immigration operations and put them on social media. In October, his administration created the independent Illinois Accountability Commission to gather evidence and take testimony ⁠from citizens on the conduct of federal agents and ​to recommend courses of action the government can take to ​seek justice.

New York's Attorney General Letitia James in October urged the public to submit videos, photos and other evidence of federal immigration raids for her office ‍to review.

People across the ⁠U.S. have used their phones to both track the movements of federal immigration agents and to record their work, leading the Trump administration to say that such efforts have ⁠led to a spike in violence against those agents. In October, Apple and Alphabet both said they had removed ‌apps created to track immigration agents from their online stores.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/california-launches-portal-public-report-230552001.html

Nvidia CEO suggests Trump 'saved AI industry'

 Nvidia Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang suggested on Wednesday, while appearing on the latest episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience," that United States President Donald Trump's policies "saved the AI industry."

"The fact that he came into office and the first thing that he said was 'drill, baby, drill,' his point is that we need energy growth. Without energy growth, we can have no industrial growth," Huang commented.

The Nvidia chief further said that without these "pro-growth energy" policies, there would be no factories for AI, no chip factories, and no supercomputer factories. "None of that would be possible," Huang stated.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Nvidia-CEO-suggests-Trump-'saved-AI-industry'/65291936

Trump To Roll Back Biden-Era Fuel Standards, Admin Says It Will Save Americans $109 B

 by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump will eliminate fuel standard regulations imposed by President Joe Biden when he signs an executive order on Dec. 3 in the Oval Office.

His directive will reduce the number of miles a vehicle must travel on a mile of gasoline, a move that will mitigate car price increases of about $1,000 and save Americans approximately $109 billion, according to administration officials.

Representatives from Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis are expected to join the president for the signing ceremony.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, oversees the Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations—enacted by Congress in 1975 to reduce fuel consumption by setting miles per gallon standards for vehicles.

A difference of opinion in recent administrations—with Democrats preferring electric vehicles and pushing to increase fuel efficiency for gas-powered vehicles, while Trump’s presidencies have focused on reducing costs and regulations—resulted in a series of policy reversals.

Biden strengthened fuel economy standards in June 2024 by 2 percent annually for passenger vehicles and light trucks.

Increases of 8 to 10 percent annually were proposed for some new vehicles.

President Barack Obama ramped up standards and set a goal in 2012 of achieving 54.5 miles per gallon for light passenger vehicles by 2025.

Trump rolled back Obama’s initiatives in 2020 during his first term in office.

The president also rescinded California’s electric vehicle mandate, which sought to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2030, when he signed three related congressional acts on June 12, including one that revoked the Golden State’s ability to impose tailpipe emissions limits.

Trump signed dozens of executive orders since taking office in January, including one called “Unleashing American Energy,” aligned with his agenda of increasing domestic energy production and limiting regulations that he said are negatively affecting the economy and driving inflation.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-roll-back-biden-era-fuel-standards-admin-says-it-will-save-americans-109-billion

'LATE Dementia diagnoses on the rise: How different is it from Alzheimer's?'

 When we think of cognitive decline and progressive brain disorders, we tend to think of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, etc, and we frequently club them together in the same bracket as if both those conditions were synonymous with each other.

However, the reality is different.

While dementia is an umbrella term for a group of progressive brain conditions that cause a decline in cognitive functions like memory, thinking, and reasoning, to the point where it interferes with daily life, Alzheimer’s disease is part of that umbrella — and one of the most commonly occurring ones.

But it isn’t just Alzheimer's disease anymore. Researchers are increasingly recognising other forms of dementia that may behave differently, progress faster, or with different symptoms, and sometimes get misdiagnosed.

One of them is LATE dementia.

A growing number of older adults around the world are being diagnosed with dementia much later than they should be. Experts are now warning about a form of memory disorder called LATE dementia — short for Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy. And because its symptoms closely resemble Alzheimer’s disease, many patients are misdiagnosed or diagnosed too late, which delays treatment, care planning, and quality of life.

What is LATE Dementia?

As the global population ages and dementia cases increase rapidly, Alzheimer’s disease remains the most well-known cause. But now, doctors are recognising LATE dementia as a major but underdiagnosed condition, especially in people above 80 years of age.

LATE stands for Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy. It is a brain disorder caused by the abnormal build-up of a protein called TDP-43 in areas of the brain that control memory and emotions, especially the hippocampus and limbic system.

This protein build-up damages brain cells and leads to slow, steady memory loss, confusion, and difficulty with daily tasks. LATE mainly affects the very elderly, usually people over 80 years of age, unlike Alzheimer’s, which can start earlier.

How is LATE dementia different from Alzheimer’s

For years, many LATE patients were wrongly labelled as having Alzheimer’s, leading to confusion in treatment and care outcomes. Although the symptoms may look similar, the diseases inside the brain are very different.

• Alzheimer’s disease is caused by plaques of beta-amyloid and tangles of tau protein, while LATE dementia is caused by the TDP-43 protein.
• Alzheimer’s often begins between the ages of 60–75, whereas LATE usually appears after 80.
• Memory loss in LATE may progress more slowly at first.
• Many patients actually have both Alzheimer’s and LATE, which leads to faster mental decline.
• Because standard brain scans cannot easily detect TDP-43, LATE is often confirmed only after death, making living diagnosis a major challenge.

Why are LATE diagnoses increasing?

As per experts, LATE dementia is rising for three main reasons:

Longer life expectancy: More people are living into their 80s and 90s, when LATE is most common.

Low awareness: Many doctors and families still assume all memory loss is Alzheimer’s.

Lack of testing tools: There is no simple blood test or scan yet to detect TDP-43 in living patients.

As a result, many elderly patients receive an Alzheimer’s diagnosis that may not fully explain their symptoms or treatment response.

Early signs of LATE dementia

The early symptoms are subtle and often mistaken for normal aging:

• Forgetting recent conversations
• Misplacing items frequently
• Repeating the same questions
• Trouble following conversations
• Mild confusion in familiar places
• Changes in mood, anxiety, or withdrawal

As the disease progresses, patients may develop:

Severe memory loss

• Difficulty speaking
• Poor judgement
• Loss of independence
• Behavioral changes

Who is at risk?

The strongest risk factor for LATE is advanced age. Other important risk factors include:

• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• History of stroke
• Smoking
• Genetic susceptibility in some families

People with long-term vascular problems appear to have a higher chance of developing this condition.

How can LATE dementia be managed?

There is no specific cure for LATE dementia — yet. And since it behaves like Alzheimer’s in many ways, patients are often treated with the same medicines used for memory support. However, these drugs may not always work as well.

Meanwhile, LATE dementia management mainly focuses on memory-supporting medications (when advised), controlling blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol, mental stimulation through reading, puzzles, and conversation, and physical activity to support brain health. A well-balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 fats, and strong emotional and family support are always recommended. Besides, caregiver education is also vital, as LATE patients often require long-term supervision.

Why early detection matters

Late diagnosis means families lose precious time to plan care, adjust lifestyles, begin therapy, and arrange legal and financial decisions. It also increases emotional stress for both patients and caregivers. Early recognition allows better symptom control and safer living arrangements.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/other/late-dementia-diagnoses-on-the-rise-how-different-is-it-from-alzheimers/ar-AA1RBlPR

Cassidy Demands More Answers From AMA on Its Billing Code Business

 Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), lashed out at the American Medical Association (AMA) on Monday, saying that the organization's response to his previous letter demanding details about its Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code business was nowhere near good enough.

Although openness and transparency are essential tenets of providing care to patients and families, "the AMA's October 23 reply to my October 6 letter was anything but open and transparent," Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee, wrote in a letter to AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD. "I am concerned that the status quo focuses on enriching the AMA at the expense of patients, while the organization subsequently uses the revenue to advance a political agenda that is not representative of the majority of the medical community. Your recent response did not answer my questions [in a way] that could assuage this concern."

The AMA maintains and annually updates the CPT coding system, which is used by physicians and other healthcare professionals to document and bill for services throughout the healthcare system. In his letter, Cassidy went on to ask some very detailed questions about the AMA's CPT code operation.

He noted that the AMA generated a total revenue of $513.2 million last year, with $281.4 million of that amount generated from "books and digital content."

"However, AMA does not provide transparency about how many millions in revenue it receives from licensing CPT products, subscriptions, and other educational materials," he wrote, going on to ask a litany of questions about the total revenue amount generated specifically from the sale and licensing of CPT coding materials, the administrative costs associated with generating CPT coding materials, the AMA's calculation of the for-sale price of CPT coding materials and how that price has changed in the last 5 years, and the revenue that the AMA has generated from the sale of CPT coding materials and related products and subscriptions in the last 5 years.

Cassidy also noted that, as part of the AMA's editorial process, it gives interested parties (IPs) who may be affected by panel decisions the ability to comment on code change applications (CCAs) to create or modify a CPT code.

"Does the AMA require that IPs have a membership with the AMA to participate in this process?" he asked. "How much weight does the AMA give to IPs comments when determining their CCAs? Yearly, how many CCAs are accepted? Further, what is the average amount of requests that end in coding modifications or changes?"

In addition, Cassidy pointed out that, as part of the AMA's CPT Distribution Pricing Schedule for 2025, it charged $18.50 for each user, as well as an upfront annual royalty fee of $1,050.

"The AMA also charges for an assortment of other products, such as an additional $18.50 to access the Relative Value Units (RVUs) associated with individual CPT codes," he wrote, asking for the number of users who accessed the AMA's licensing models in 2024 and the organization's definition of "users."

He also asked whether fees were calculated based on each unique user or on a per-code basis for providers, health plans, hospitals, and electronic health record software companies who access CPT codes.

Cassidy also pointed to issues not related to the CPT codes, including policies supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates and gender-affirming care.

"What partnerships and associations, both financial and non-financial, does the AMA have with organizations or projects supporting DEI mandates and gender-transition procedures?" he asked. "How have previous resolutions passed by the House of Delegates informed the AMA's advocacy and support on behalf of DEI mandates and gender-transition procedures? Do membership fees directly or indirectly fund activities of the House of Delegates? How does the AMA calculate advocacy when it assesses membership fees? Does the AMA give members the ability to opt out of supporting advocacy activities?"

In his earlier letter, Cassidy said he was "particularly offended by the AMA abusing its government-endorsed CPT monopoly to charge every stakeholder in the healthcare system significant amounts of money while advancing an anti-patient agenda." He argued that the AMA is "charging exorbitant fees to anyone using the CPT code set, including doctors, hospitals, health plans, and health IT vendors," and that such fees are "passed on by CPT users to patients in the form of higher healthcare costs."

In his new letter, Cassidy gave the AMA a Dec. 15 deadline for a response, adding, "If you are unable to voluntarily reply in a fulsome and timely manner, the committee will consider other options to secure the information requested from the AMA."

The AMA has received the letter and is responding to it, MedPage Today has learned. The association offered no further comment.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/practicemanagement/reimbursement/118799

MRI Sans Biopsy Not Ready for Prime Time in Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer

 

• Prostate MRI currently lacks the accuracy to replace biopsies in active surveillance for prostate cancer.
• The negative predictive value of MRI remains below 90%, the general goal for safely avoiding biopsy.
• Routine confirmatory biopsy should continue in active surveillance until MRI accuracy improves.

Despite technologic advances and guideline recommendations, prostate MRI still lacks the accuracy to replace biopsies in active surveillance, data on almost 2,000 patients suggested.

MRI had a 75% negative predictive value (NPV) for predicting grade group 2 or higher disease at confirmatory biopsy and 77% at surveillance biopsy. Among patients with grade group 1 at diagnostic biopsy, MRI had an NPV of 79% for both confirmatory and surveillance biopsies. NPV was lower for patients with grade group 2 at diagnostic biopsy, for Black patients across all subgroups, and for ability to reclassify cancers as high or low risk by Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS).

Until improvements under development can be broadly implemented, routine confirmatory testing in active surveillance for prostate cancer should continue to include biopsy, reported Matthew B. Cooperberg, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues in JAMA Oncology.

The level of accuracy that would allow MRI without biopsy during follow-up remains open for discussion.

"This is a matter of opinion and will depend a bit on specific clinical situations and patient preferences -- but generally speaking if we're going to use a test to rule out further investigation, we will usually look for an NPV at or above 90%," Cooperberg told MedPage Today.

"There are lots of potential improvements in the MRI sequence, for example augmenting a bp [biparametric] MRI exam with restricted spectrum imaging," he added. "But the problem in general seems to be less about MRI itself as it is about the inconsistent application and interpretation of PI-RADS scoring. In this arena AI [artificial intelligence] is moving very quickly, with a number of commercial applications and perhaps most notably the PI-CAI open-source initiative which is already outperforming most radiologists (for free) at version 1."

A randomized trial would be ideal for obtaining a definitive answer, Cooperberg acknowledged, but such a trial would "take many years" to show a difference in clinically meaningful outcomes.

"It will likely be more efficient to continue to develop new imaging tools under a rigorous biomarker framework, like REMARK," said Cooperberg. "For now, that means biopsy still has to be the gold standard to evaluate the tool's accuracy, but my bet is this space will evolve substantially in a very finite number of years."

Active surveillance has evolved into the preferred management strategy for favorable-risk early prostate cancer, but the strategy includes confirmatory biopsy to address undersampling at diagnosis. Guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the VA National Oncology Program suggest that MRI may replace confirmatory biopsy, but limited evidence exists to support the accuracy. For example, one single-center study showed that at confirmatory biopsy MRI had a NPV of 74% for grade group 2 or higher, decreasing to 57% in patients with a PSA density (PSAD) >0.15 ng/mL².

To test the findings from the single-center study, Cooperberg and colleagues examined records for 1,901 U.S. veterans with grade group 1 to 2 at diagnostic biopsy from 2013 to 2023. All the patients underwent MRI (with PI-RADS score) within 180 days prior to confirmatory and/or subsequent surveillance biopsy. The primary outcome was the NPV of MRI (PI-RADS ≤2) on confirmatory or surveillance biopsy. PI-RADS ≥3 was considered positive.

The proportion of pre-biopsy MRI scans increased from 0.7% to 25.9% over the study period. The results showed an NPV <80% for MRI before confirmatory or surveillance biopsy. Men with grade group 1 disease accounted for 80% of the study population, and NPV was only slightly higher than for men with grade group 2 disease but still below 80%.

For men with grade group 2 disease at diagnostic biopsy, MRI's NPV dipped to 44%. Analysis by PSAD showed an NPV of 70% overall for men with PSAD ≥0.15 ng/mL² and 80% for PSAD <0.15 ng/mL².

A sensitivity analysis that considered PI-RADS 1 to 3 as negative and PI-RADS 4 to 5 as positive produced an NPV of 68% at confirmatory biopsy and 72% at surveillance biopsy, even though the number of negative MRI results increased over time. When the goal was to rule out grade group 3 or higher, multiparametric MRI had an NPV >95% in many subgroups when considering PI-RADS 3 to 5 to be positive and was still greater than 90% when defining positive as PI-RADS 4 to 5. Positive predictive value, however, dropped to 20% to 30% under those conditions.

"While quality multiparametric MRI clearly can help guide prostate biopsies and improve diagnosis, our data confirm that relying on MRI as a surrogate for biopsy in AS [active surveillance] would result in underdiagnosis of clinically significant cancers -- though we acknowledge few of these would likely be imminently life threatening," the authors concluded.

Disclosures

The study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Cooperberg reported relationships with Bayer, Janssen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Veracyte, Exosome Dx, Tempus, Merck, LynxDx, Pfizer, ConcertAI, and Verana Health. Co-authors reported multiple relationships with industry.

Primary Source

JAMA Oncology

Source Reference: Cooperberg MR, et al "Magnetic resonance imaging or confirmatory biopsy for patients with prostate cancer receiving active surveillance" JAMA Oncol 2025; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.4167.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/urology/prostatecancer/118800