CFTC drops Kalshi election betting appeal
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has dropped its appeal against online predictions platform Kalshi after a federal judge ruled that Kalshi could take bets on the outcome of political events within the US.
In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson for the derivatives regulator said the dismissal of the appeal was voluntary and that the commission had held a vote earlier on whether or not they should drop the appeal.
Kalshi Chief Executive Tarek Mansour said, “Today is historic. We have always believed that doing things the right way, no matter how hard, no matter how painful, pays off. This result is proof of that. Kalshi’s approach has officially and definitively secured the future of prediction markets in America.”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission had been pursuing the appeal ever since a Washington, DC federal district court judge, Jia Cobb, ruled in Kalshi’s favor that the trading platform could offer election trading contracts despite the regulator calling for a public interest review. However, not everyone was happy with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s decision to drop the appeal. Financial reform advocacy group Better Markets expressed annoyance with the decision, with its legal and specialist director, Stephen Hall, saying, “The CFTC has just voluntarily surrendered its fight to overturn a dangerous lower court decision that allows gambling on the outcome of congressional elections.”
Dig deeper
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
