CFTC | Crypto

Venture capital firm a16z argues that state crackdowns on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket conflict with federal law and hurt market access for ordinary users. A16z has thrown its weight behind the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a growing federal-state standoff over prediction markets, opposing state regulators that try to shut down platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. The venture capital heavyweight submitted the letter on Thursday in response to the CFTC’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking on prediction markets. It argues that state-level crackdowns, ranging from cease-and-desist letters to criminal charges, are creating barriers that undermine the federal agency’s mandate to provide “impartial access to its markets and services.” In recent weeks alone, the CFTC has filed lawsuits against Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, claiming that those states overstepped by trying to regulate markets that fall under federal jurisdiction. A16z backed that position, arguing...

Polymarket is reportedly in talks with the CFTC to restore US access after its 2022 settlement, following a limited US rollout in December 2025 focused on sports contracts. Polymarket is seeking regulatory approval to reopen its main prediction markets platform to US users, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, Polymarket has been engaging with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to lift the prohibition on US-based customers. The move would mark a broader US return for the company, which re-entered the market in a limited form last year through its regulated QCEX-based setup but still keeps Americans off its main international exchange. Read more

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Wisconsin in the agency’s fifth lawsuit against a US state to assert jurisdiction over prediction markets. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday sued the state of Wisconsin in the agency’s latest effort to assert jurisdiction over prediction markets after the state sued multiple platforms. The CFTC said in a statement that it filed the lawsuit against Wisconsin “in response to the state’s lawsuits against Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase, five CFTC-regulated prediction markets.” “States cannot circumvent the clear directive of Congress,” CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said. “Our message to Wisconsin is the same as to New York, Arizona, and others: if you interfere with the operation of federal law in regulating financial markets, we will sue you.” Read more

If approved, the move would help Polymarket compete with Kalshi in the U.S., and bring more event-trading activity under CFTC regulatory oversight.

The CFTC has filed suit to block New York from enforcing gambling laws on prediction platforms, arguing federal regulators have sole authority over event-based contracts. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against New York to stop the state from applying its gambling laws to federally regulated prediction market platforms, escalating a growing clash over who has authority to oversee these products. In a complaint lodged in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the CFTC argued that federal law gives it exclusive authority over these markets, asking the court for a declaratory judgment and a permanent injunction against New York’s enforcement actions. “CFTC-registered exchanges have faced an onslaught of state lawsuits seeking to limit Americans’ access to event contracts and undermine the CFTC’s sole regulatory jurisdiction over prediction markets,” CFTC Chair Michael Selig said. Read more

Democratic lawmakers called out Michael Selig for unilaterally advancing policies at the regulator that's normally led by a bipartisan group of five commissioners. The chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Michael Selig, said he would not wait for the appointment of additional commissioners to lead the regulatory agency before moving ahead on rulemaking potentially related to digital assets and prediction markets. In a Thursday hearing of the House Agriculture Committee, Selig responded to questions from ranking member Angie Craig, who called out the lack of leadership at the CFTC, which normally has a bipartisan panel of five commissioners. The Minnesota representative asked the chair to commit to not finalizing regulations while he is the only commissioner. “In the interim, we cannot, for the sake of the American people, slow down in our rulemaking,” said Selig. “It’s very important that we get investor protections, consumer protections and safeguards for our markets. And so, I cannot, u...

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.