CFTC Floats Ban On Election Betting Contracts
A divided U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a proposed rule Friday that would ban trading on the outcome of elections, further solidifying its contested position that such activities constitute illegal “gaming” and threaten to thrust the agency into the role of an “election cop.”…
Related Knowledge Center: Prediction markets
Platforms are offering a way for users trade positions — place bets — on a wide range of possible events, and newsrooms are starting to incorporate the data.
As the business rapidly grows, critics and opponents are pushing back. Numerous states have argued that the markets are gambling, and sports gambling in particular is regulated by the state. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, now led by a Trump appointee, disagrees — as did a federal district court judge in a suit involving New Jersey.
Critics see some of the markets as, particularly in the case of military actions, indefensible, and note as well that some large, well-timed bets — “event contracts” — suggest an abuse of insider knowledge of federal actions.