CFTC | Crypto

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig says the rescission of its “no-deny” policy means it now has more flexibility when settling enforcement actions. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has rescinded a long-standing policy that prevented it from accepting a lawsuit settlement if the defendant denied the agency’s allegations. The CFTC said on Wednesday that it scrapped the policy, first adopted in 1998, because it “may have created an incorrect impression that the Commission is trying to shield itself from criticism.” The language was similar to that provided by the US Securities and Exchange Commission when it rescinded a similar policy in May.  Read more

The CFTC chair seeks to roll back an enforcement action on the company founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, donors to Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and attendees at White House events. Update (June 2 at 9:35 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from the CFTC. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig is claiming that the agency under former President Joe Biden “politically targeted” the co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini through enforcement actions. In a Tuesday CNBC interview, Selig said under his leadership, the CFTC was “trying to get back to a baseline” on enforcement, after what he claimed was politicization by the Biden administration. While the Selig acknowledged that he is a political appointee nominated by US President Donald Trump, he claimed that the recently reported staff cuts targeted people “engaging in lawfare.” Read more

As the CFTC and Gemini work together to seek a court's reversal of a 2025 settlement, one of the agency’s former chairs said the public “deserves a better explanation.” A former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) responded to the agency’s move to vacate a $5 million settlement with cryptocurrency company Gemini. In a Wednesday motion filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the CFTC joined the Gemini Trust Company in seeking relief from the judgment of a case initially filed in June 2022. The company reached a $5 million settlement with the CFTC in January 2025 while the agency was under former US President Joe Biden. “[T]he CFTC’s action in reversing itself on a settled case is extraordinarily unusual,” Tim Massad, a former CFTC chair and research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, told Cointelegraph. “The explanation seems to be that the staff got it wrong, not that the law was unclear.” Read more

The CFTC issued notices affecting platforms seeking to offer cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts, including a no-action position for Coinbase and approval for Kalshi. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took positions on cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts and how the industry may be more suited for “24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement.” In a Friday notice, the CFTC said it had approved perpetual futures contracts tied to the spot price of Bitcoin for prediction markets platform Kalshi. The company announced at about the same time that it would launch the perpetual futures contracts on its platform in a move closer to a derivatives exchange. “​​The Order was based on representations and submissions made by Kalshi in support of its request for Commission approval, including its explanation and analysis of the BTCPERP Contract’s terms and conditions, the nature of the underlying commodity market, and the BTCPERP Contract’s compliance with applicable provisions of the Commodity Ex...

The CFTC claimed that its settled complaint filed under the Biden administration relied heavily on a whistleblower’s allegations that Gemini inflated trading activity to distort user demand. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has asked a federal court to vacate its $5 million settlement with crypto exchange Gemini, claiming that the agency’s enforcement action was based on flawed allegations. Gemini settled with the CFTC and paid a $5 million fine in January 2025 in the final weeks of the Biden administration after the agency accused it of making false or misleading statements related to a Bitcoin futures contract. The CFTC filed a joint motion with Gemini in a Manhattan court on Wednesday seeking to vacate the settlement, adding in a statement that it had reviewed the matter and concluded that the “complaint should not have been filed — and would not have been under current enforcement standards.” Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was "critically important" that the CFTC keep "exclusive authority" over prediction markets, echoing CFTC Chair Michael Selig.

CFTC crypto oversight is moving toward a larger role under the CLARITY Act, but the agency that Congress may soon ask to police much of the US crypto market is facing a more immediate test of its own independence. A New York Times investigation reported that senior Commodity Futures Trading Commission officials who raised concerns […] The post CFTC may gain broader crypto oversight as staff who questioned major firms were reportedly sidelined appeared first on CryptoSlate.

A New York Times investigation found that senior CFTC officials who raised concerns about Polymarket, Crypto.com and Gemini were suspended and pushed out. Senior officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) who raised concerns about prediction market companies were suspended, investigated and eventually pushed out of the agency. According to a New York Times investigation published Sunday, the officials had flagged concerns about Polymarket, Crypto.com and a Gemini affiliate, each with alleged business ties to President Donald Trump's family. Career staff worried that Crypto.com was not treating small bettors fairly, that Polymarket lacked adequate fraud protections and that Gemini’s affiliate had not completed the required regulatory review to operate. Despite those concerns, then-acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham and her senior counsel intervened to help the firms get what they wanted, sources told the NYT. By the end of 2025, two officials who had raised questions were placed on administrativ...

The financial regulator signed a similar agreement with Major League Baseball in March and continues to file lawsuits against state-level authorities going after prediction market platforms over sports betting. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under the sole leadership of Republican Michael Selig, announced a memorandum of understanding with the National Hockey League to “protect the integrity of professional hockey and maintain fair and transparent prediction markets.” In a Thursday announcement, Selig said the move was intended to protect prediction market users from “insider trading, fraud, and other abuse” as the CFTC continues to maintain what it calls its “exclusive jurisdiction” over platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. The agency signed a similar agreement with Major League Baseball in March, at the same time the league announced Polymarket would be its Official Prediction Market Exchange. Read more

The CLARITY Act is moving toward the Senate floor with a promise crypto has spent years asking for: a clearer federal map for digital asset markets. The under-covered risk is that the map runs through the CFTC, making CFTC crypto regulation a capacity test for spot-market oversight after its payroll workforce fell by more than […] The post CLARITY Act will give crypto a new regulator before the CFTC has the staff to run it appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is currently headed by Chair Michael Selig, with no public statement from Donald Trump about fully staffing the five-member panel of commissioners. The Republican chair and Democratic ranking member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture have called on President Donald Trump to fully staff the leadership at a key financial regulator, citing the potential impact of a crypto market structure bill. In a Friday letter to Trump, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson and ranking member Angie Craig asked the president to “nominate a full panel” of bipartisan leaders for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The representatives cited “urgent regulatory issues” facing the US regulator in addition to a “significant rulemaking process” required if the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) becomes law. “Ensuring the Commission is well-equipped as the leading derivatives markets regulator in the world is a bipartisan priority fo...

The CFTC issued no-action relief from certain swap reporting rules for fully collateralized event contracts as prediction market disputes widen. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) market and clearing divisions issued no-action relief for fully collateralized event contracts, easing certain swap data reporting and recordkeeping obligations for prediction market operators and clearing organizations. The divisions said Wednesday that they will not recommend enforcement against designated contract markets (DCMs), derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs), or their participants for failing to comply with specified swap-related recordkeeping requirements or for failing to report covered transactions to swap data repositories. Event contracts on prediction markets technically qualify as “swaps” as they are based on binary events. However, the letter argued that similar contracts are listed for trade by DCMs and have more similar characteristics to futures and options on futures, hence enabling firm...

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has urged the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that the agency has jurisdiction over prediction markets. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has backed Kalshi in the company’s legal fight against the state of Ohio, asking an appeals court to affirm that the regulator has jurisdiction over prediction markets. The CFTC filed an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, accusing Ohio of “jurisdictional overreach” after state authorities told Kalshi last year to stop offering sports event contracts in the state, calling them unlicensed sports gambling. Kalshi sued Ohio authorities in October, seeking to have a federal court stop the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the state attorney general from taking action, but the court denied the request in March, leading Kalshi to appeal the decision. Read more

The CFTC received more than 1,500 responses to its prediction market rulemaking proposal, with respondents divided on how it should police the platforms. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission received more than 1,500 responses to a proposed rule tied to prediction markets, with some backing the regulator while others called for a tougher crackdown on the platforms. The CFTC’s request for public comments on a rule it proposed in March that would allow it to amend or issue new regulations for event contracts on prediction markets ended on Thursday, drawing responses from prediction markets, crypto firms and consumer advocacy groups. Kalshi co-founder and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara backed the CFTC in a letter on Thursday, saying its existing regulations were “well-designed and effective,” urging it to give guidance to ensure “that the universe of event contracts can continue to be listed, traded, and overseen by the Commission.” Read more

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...