CFTC | Crypto

The CFTC’s task force includes five members with legal and crypto backgrounds to help "clear rules of the road for American innovators." The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has unveiled the first members of its new innovation task force as the agency continues its push to provide greater clarity for the crypto market. The Innovation Task Force was initially launched by CFTC Chairman Mike Selig on March 24, who appointed Michael Passalacqua as the leader of the group. Passalacqua is currently the senior advisor to Selig at the CFTC. In an announcement Friday, the CFTC said that Passalacqua will be joined by a list of five initial members including Hank Balaban, a former Latham & Watkins crypto lawyer; Sam Canavos, an ex-Patomak crypto and prediction markets advisor; Mark Fajfar, a CFTC legal veteran; Eugene Gonzalez IV, an ex-Sidley blockchain lawyer; and Dina Moussa, a CFTC Market Participants Division special counsel. Read more

The US Justice Department and commodities regulator asked a federal court to block Arizona’s action against Kalshi, arguing federally regulated event contracts fall under CFTC jurisdiction. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) asked a federal court to block Arizona from enforcing state gambling law against Kalshi’s event contracts, arguing that they fall under the CFTC’s exclusive authority over swaps markets. The Wednesday filing argues that event contracts listed on federally regulated platforms such as Kalshi are swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act and therefore fall within the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction. The filing says Arizona’s enforcement effort unlawfully intrudes on the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction over federally regulated event-contract markets. Read more

The seven House members may have affirmed the commission‘s authority over prediction markets, but asked questions about its inaction on insider trading. Seven members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig, asking for information on the agency's inaction on insider trading on prediction markets and event contracts related to war and conflicts. In a Monday letter, the seven US lawmakers said that the CFTC had the authority under the Commodities Exchange Act “to apply its rules and regulations for the purpose of preventing evasion of the [act’s] underlying swap provisions.” The statement signaled that the representatives affirmed Selig’s position that the commission had jurisdiction over prediction markets. However, the House members expressed concerns about how the CFTC was policing “morally obscene” event contracts, including those on US military actions in Iran and Venezuela — in those cases, there were suspicious trades related to ...

Washington has escalated its fight with states over prediction markets, launching lawsuits that could decide whether these platforms operate as national financial products or state-regulated gambling. The outcome will determine if sports contracts can scale or get forced back into local licensing regimes. On Apr. 2, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Arizona, Connecticut, […] The post CFTC sues 3 states in bid to redefine crypto prediction markets as federal products appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims it "first officially recognized" event contracts in 1992 and that Congress has granted it sole authority over the market. The Trump administration is suing Illinois, Connecticut, Arizona, and their gaming regulators over the federal government’s right to regulate prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the US Department of Justice filed separate lawsuits on Thursday against the three states. In 2025, those states and their gaming regulators sent cease and desist letters to prediction platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, claiming that the event contracts offered by the platforms violated state gambling laws and licensing requirements. Read more

Singh faced legal action from the SEC, CFTC and US Department of Justice after FTX collapsed in November 2022 but avoided significant prison time by cooperating with authorities. Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering at FTX, will pay $3.7 million to resolve his case with the US commodities regulator over his role in the collapse of the crypto exchange and the misappropriation of user funds. As part of the supplemental consent order, Singh will be required to pay a disgorgement of $3.7 million, while a five-year ban on trading in markets and an eight-year registration ban are imposed, blocking him from obtaining a license to operate in the sector, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said in a statement on Wednesday. “The initial consent order and supplemental consent order resolve the CFTC’s enforcement action against Singh,” it added. Read more

Michael Selig summarized his first 100 days overseeing the commodities regulator since being confirmed by the US Senate in December. Michael Selig, US President Donald Trump’s nominee leading the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said the agency was prepared to oversee the entire $3 trillion crypto industry, with no timeline for Congress to pass a crucial market structure bill. In a Wednesday statement about his first 100 days as CFTC chair, Selig said that the commission was “ready to take responsibility” for the crypto market and reiterated his claim that it was the sole regulator to oversee prediction markets. His comments come as the US Senate considers the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill that has been effectively stalled in committee amid discussions over stablecoin yield and other issues. Read more

“There’s a myth in mainstream media and social media that insider trading doesn’t apply in the prediction markets … That is wrong,” said CFTC enforcement director David Miller. The US commodities regulator’s chief enforcement director sent a cautionary message to prediction market insider traders on Tuesday, vowing that violators will face enforcement action. “We are aware of the speculation about insider trading,” CFTC enforcement director David Miller said at a panel at New York University on Tuesday. “We are watching.” Miller, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the position on March 2, said the Commission will use its prosecutorial discretion and will not dedicate resources to “trivial” cases. Read more

CFTC to Defer to Leagues as NFL Pushes Prediction Market Rules The post CFTC to ‘Defer to Leagues’ as NFL Pushes for Prediction Market Guardrails appeared first on Cryptonews.

The regulator views timestamps and onchain identifiers as tools to distinguish real media from synthetic content, while calling for a light-touch approach to regulating AI agents. Michael Selig, chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said blockchain could play a key role in verifying AI-generated content, contending the technology can help distinguish authentic media from synthetic outputs as concerns over misinformation grow. During an appearance on The Pomp Podcast on Thursday, Selig was asked by host Anthony Pompliano about the use of AI-generated memes and images in markets, and whether intent matters or such content should be restricted altogether. He told Pompliano: He said regulators are focused on maintaining US leadership in crypto, adding that “you can’t have AI without blockchain.” Read more

Chair Michael Selig said that the task force was an example of “future-proofing“ regulation at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is looking to embrace innovation in its regulatory approach to crypto and blockchain with the launch of a new Innovation Task Force, according to a Tuesday notice. Chair Michael Selig said that the task force will work with the regulator’s Innovation Advisory Committee to create a framework focused on crypto, blockchain, AI, and prediction markets. The effort will be led by Michael Passalacqua, who joined the CFTC as a senior adviser in January after working on crypto and blockchain issues at international law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. “The idea behind our innovation advisory task force is really to create a space where innovators and builders can come in and talk to the staff,” Selig told attendees at the Digital Asset Summit in New York City on Tuesday. “It’s not just crypto — it’s going to be prediction markets, cr...

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission staff has provided answers to frequently asked questions about the agency’s expectations around a crypto collateral pilot. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has given more details on its expectations for the use of crypto as collateral amid a pilot program that the agency launched last year. In a notice on Friday, the CFTC’s Market Participants Division and Division of Clearing and Risk responded to frequently asked questions that emerged from two staff letters issued in December that established a pilot allowing crypto to be used as collateral in derivatives markets. The notice reminded futures commission merchants wanting to take part in the pilot that they must file a notice with the Market Participants Division “which includes the date on which it will commence accepting crypto assets from customers as margin collateral.” Read more

The no-action position taken by the US regulator under Chair Michael Selig will allow the company to engage in certain activities without registering as a broker. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Tuesday that its Market Participants Division issued a no-action letter in response to a request from crypto wallet provider Phantom Technologies. A CFTC notice said that the no-action letter would, under certain circumstances, stop the division from recommending that the regulator take an enforcement action against Phantom or its staff for failure to register as a broker. According to Phantom, the no-action position will allow the company to “act as a non-custodial interface connecting users to a registered exchange [...] without taking on the regulatory obligations of an introducing broker.”  Read more

The SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding to do a better job providing a combined regulatory approach to the digital asset sector.

“This ends today,“ said CFTC Chair Michael Selig, who has been reiterating his position that the agency has exclusive jurisdiction overseeing prediction markets platforms. Update (March 12 at 8:56 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from CME Group Chief Executive Terry Duffy. Michael Selig, chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has proposed a rule that could amend or issue new regulations over event contracts on prediction markets platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. In a Thursday notice, the CFTC issued a staff advisory classifying event contracts on prediction markets as a “financial asset class.” The regulator also submitted an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to be published in the Federal Register, asking for public comment on how the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) would apply to prediction markets. Read more

The SEC and CFTC said they would adopt a “minimum effective dose” regulatory strategy to foster innovation while maintaining market integrity and keep the US competitive globally. Two of the US’s most influential financial regulators have agreed to better coordinate oversight of the financial markets, seeking to put an end to decades of “regulatory turf wars” between them. According to the memorandum of understanding written on Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it has become a “pivotal time” to regulate in harmony as new technologies, such as crypto, make it more challenging to monitor the markets: “New trading models, digital infrastructure, and onchain, automated systems increasingly blur traditional jurisdictional lines,” they said, particularly as market participants operate across platforms and asset classes. Read more

Michael Selig said blockchain-powered prediction markets could improve price discovery and public information, even as several US states challenge the platforms in court. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig has voiced support for prediction markets paired with blockchain technology, claiming they could become powerful tools for discovering truth. Speaking at the FIA Global Cleared Markets Conference in Boca Raton, Florida, on Monday, Selig argued that prediction markets, also known as event contracts, can provide valuable signals about future events when participants put money behind their views, describing well-functioning markets as “truth machines.” “When participants express views on future events — and back those views with capital — they create accountability, transparency and information,” Selig said. He added that highly liquid prediction markets often produce signals that the public increasingly sees as more reliable than traditional opinion polls. Read more

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig wants to bring perpetual futures home, and it could happen as early as next month, according to his latest statement. In January remarks titled “Limitless: Onshoring True Perpetual Derivatives,” he laid out a vision for pulling crypto's most widely used leverage tool into US regulatory territory. Selig framed perps as instruments […] The post Bitcoin’s $85 billion derivatives engine may move onshore as CFTC eyes April approval appeared first on CryptoSlate.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig addressed market structure, prediction markets and perpetual futures at a Tuesday event. Michael Selig, chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said the agency will soon address how to handle perpetual futures contracts for cryptocurrencies. In a Tuesday panel hosted by the Milken Institute in Washington, DC, Selig said that the CFTC was working toward getting “true perpetual futures” in the United States “within the next month or so.” The CFTC chair is currently the only Senate-confirmed commissioner, with no indication as of Tuesday that US President Donald Trump will nominate anyone to fill any of the agency’s four vacant commissioner slots. Read more

Michael Selig said the US financial regulator had filed an amicus brief against what he called an “onslaught of state-led litigation” against prediction markets. Michael Selig, who chairs the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Donald Trump, said the agency would be responding to what he called an “onslaught of state-led litigation” against prediction market platforms. In a video posted to X on Tuesday, Selig said that the CFTC had filed an amicus brief, also known as a “friend of the court” brief, to “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” in regulating prediction markets, which he equated to derivatives markets. The chair warned that any state-level entities challenging the CFTC’s authority over such markets would be met in court. “Prediction markets aren’t new — the CFTC has regulated these markets for over two decades,” said Selig. “They provide useful functions for society by allowing everyday Americans to hedge commercial risks [...] they also serve as an important check on our news medi...