AI · CoinDesk
U.S. CFTC moves to fold event contracts into swaps regulations as legal fight rages
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is making its pursuit of exclusive prediction markets authority a formal effort, putting a new definition in place on Friday and proposing other changes that collectively seek to secure the legal footing of events contracts as "swaps", a transaction under the CFTC's authority and outside of state gambling regulators' reach.
Key facts
- So far, President Donald Trump has declined to name additional people to the CFTC
- These actions had been submitted for White House review less than two weeks ago, showing an especially speedy process
- And event contracts belong well within that swaps definition, the CFTC proposed in a related rule
- But if the CFTC is called to make its case there, the agency will now be able to show it has already begun implementing Chairman Mike Selig's regulatory view on prediction markets
Summary
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued one rule and proposed another in an effort to solidify Chairman Mike Selig's view that prediction markets transactions are properly regulated by his agency alone. This latest policy move to more explicitly define event contracts as "swaps" may bolster the agency's legal position in a dispute with several states that has already seen a couple of federal rulings go against the CFTC.
The "interim final" status of the one rule means it becomes immediate policy but will be open for public input as it's implemented.