CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig isn’t backing down. The head of the US commodities regulator has made clear the agency will defend its exclusive authority over prediction markets if states try to challenge it in court.
The fight for jurisdiction
Selig first laid out his position in a February 17, 2026 Wall Street Journal op-ed, where he underscored the CFTC’s long history of overseeing event contracts, the technical term for prediction markets. He followed up with even more direct comments in April 2026, explicitly affirming the agency’s exclusive regulatory role.
The pushback is coming from several directions. States including Nevada, New York, Illinois, and Arizona have been asserting their own regulatory claims over prediction markets. Nearly 50 ongoing cases involving CFTC-registered platforms illustrate just how heated this jurisdictional battle has become.
In his WSJ op-ed, Selig referenced the filing of an amicus brief for Crypto.com, signaling the agency’s willingness to intervene in legal proceedings to protect its turf.
