Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig moved to stop states from regulating prediction markets. In a post on X and an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Selig said that the “CFTC will no longer sit idly by while overzealous state governments undermine the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction over these markets by seeking to establish statewide prohibitions on these exciting products.” Last week several gambling market CEOs were appointed to a CFTC commission after the agency’s flagship enforcement office was gutted.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Education Fund Policy Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:
“The 2008 financial crisis happened because we let bankers gamble on housing. Now the CFTC is trying to let gamblers gamble on every aspect of life. By moving to crush state safeguards for prediction markets in court, the CFTC is giving gambling companies a green light to prey on all Americans and is setting the stage for another financial crisis. Right now, state laws are one the few lines of defense protecting everyday Americans from prediction markets that are rife with corruption and that openly encourage addiction and crippling debt. These safeguards should be supported, not torn down at the behest of gambling CEOs.”