CFTC Chair Michael Selig used his 100-day update to say the agency is prepared to regulate the full digital asset market, even though Congress has not yet passed a market-structure bill that would formally define jurisdiction. Selig said the commission is “ready to take responsibility” for crypto and reiterated his view that prediction markets fall exclusively under CFTC oversight.
The remarks come as the Senate considers the stalled CLARITY Act, a market-structure proposal currently held up in committee amid disputes over issues such as stablecoin yields. Selig said regulatory clarity for crypto is being developed alongside rules for prediction markets, which he described as useful information-discovery tools governed by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Since his confirmation, the CFTC has signaled a softer enforcement stance toward digital assets than prior administrations. In March the commission and the SEC signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate regulation of areas including digital assets. Early drafts of market-structure legislation suggested the CFTC might gain explicit new authority, but the SEC is still expected to regulate tokens it classifies as securities.
Prediction markets have drawn scrutiny from state authorities and federal lawmakers after allegedly illegal gaming activity and reports that politicians profited from trades using insider information. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket face investigations and litigation at state and federal levels. Selig has asserted the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction over those markets and warned it will defend that authority in court.
CFTC enforcement director David Miller has said event contracts on prediction markets should be treated as swaps under the agency’s remit rather than as gaming. In response to suspicious trades tied to military developments in Iran and Venezuela, some legislators have proposed banning elected officials from profiting on event contracts.
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