CFTC Chair Doubles Down on Defending 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 media and our information streams.”

Selig’s remarks followed several state-level regulators and authorities filing legal challenges against prediction platforms offering event contracts, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, Kalshi and Polymarket. Last week, Polymarket filed a lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts, claiming that only the CFTC, as a federal regulator, had the authority to police such markets.

Related: Prediction markets should become hedging platforms, says Buterin

Selig has been doubling down on his public statements supporting prediction markets amid the state-led enforcement actions. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Selig, reiterating his position that states were “encroaching” on the CFTC’s authority.

On Friday, a group of 23 US senators sent a letter to Selig, urging the CFTC chair to “abstain from intervening in pending litigation” involving event contracts and to “realign the Commission’s actions with the statute and with the testimony” he provided to Congress during his confirmation hearing. Selig said that he would look to the court for guidance during a November hearing.

“[Y]our recent comments instead suggest that you view the prohibitions Congress enacted […] as subject to reinterpretation through regulatory posture or litigation strategy,” said the senators, addressing Selig. “That approach converts a statutory prohibition into case-by-case policy judgments. It also places the Commission in direct conflict with state and tribal governments whose gambling laws Congress expressly chose not to preempt.”

Federal regulators await crypto market structure bill

For months, lawmakers in the US Senate have been considering a digital asset market structure bill, passed under the CLARITY Act by the House of Representatives in July. Although the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to advance the bill in January, it was unclear as of Tuesday whether the legislation would have enough support to pass a potential vote in the full chamber.

Selig was scheduled to speak on the progress of the bill at an event organized by the Trump family-backed crypto platform World Liberty Financial at the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Wednesday.

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