'See You in Court': CFTC Chair Defends Jurisdiction as States Fight Prediction Markets

U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig hit back at states trying to challenge the regulator’s jurisdiction over prediction markets in a new op-ed published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.

“To those who seek to challenge our authority in this space: let me be clear. We will see you in court,” Selig wrote.

In the past year, a handful of states have issued cease and desist letters and gone toe-to-toe with prediction market operators in court in a bid to stop what they say is an unfair subversion of their gambling and gaming laws. And in several cases, prediction markets have fought back by suing state regulators.

The legal tension has lead to members of the industry to call for more clarity from the CFTC. The Securities and Exchange Commission has even suggested that it might have some jurisdiction over the burgeoning industry. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said last week that the Wall Street cop already has “enough authority” to regulate at least a portion of the booming prediction market sector.

But Selig made the CFTC’s position clear in his op-ed, arguing that the encroachment amounts to “legal attacks.” The regulator has now filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Crypto.com in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“America is home to the most liquid and vibrant financial markets in the world because our regulators take seriously their obligation to police fraud and institute appropriate investor safeguards,” he wrote. “Any erosion of the CFTC’s ability to regulate transactions in commodity derivatives is a direct threat to the markets and investors Congress intended the agency to oversee.”

Selig’s statements have already been applauded by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who thanked the CFTC chairman on X and added: “Exclusive jurisdiction means exclusive jurisdiction—just as Congress mandated.”