US Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Michael Selig announced plans to review the agency’s rules for emerging financial technologies, including prediction markets. His initiative comes as a cryptocurrency market structure bill faces uncertainty in the Senate, while gaming groups have urged Congress to bar sports event contracts through that legislation.
The day’s most important stories, free. One email a day.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said on a podcast that prediction market operators such as Kalshi are running illegal sportsbooks, and that Nevada has no fallback plan if the Supreme Court sides with them. He urged tribes and licensees to hold firm, even though several tribes have partnered with Kalshi this month. The comments followed a CFTC interim rule of 9 October excluding casino-style gambling products from the definition of a swap, alongside a proposed rule covering event contracts.
CFTC chair Michael Selig proposed new prediction market rules at the agency’s first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday. Selig also defended federal oversight against challenges concerning legality and self-certification limits.
CFTC chair Michael Selig criticised New York Attorney General Letitia James over the dispute about prediction markets, in remarks at a White House meeting on 20 August. James has alleged that Kalshi breached New York sports-betting age rules by allowing people aged 18 to 20 to trade sports-related contracts; Selig said the CFTC had used emergency powers to block a state temporary restraining order.
Reportedly, the Indian Gaming Association's conference chairman addressed how tribes are responding to the growth of sports event contracts from prediction markets. The spread of such contracts creates uncertainty for federally recognised tribes, prompting discussions about the next steps in the fight.
The chairman of Nevada's gaming regulator was among industry figures who warned about casino-style prediction markets at the NCLGS Summer Meeting in July. Prediction markets have expanded rapidly into products functionally similar to sports betting over the past 18 months.