Gallego, Colleagues Demand CFTC Chair Reverse on Greenlighting Prediction Markets

Lawmakers urge CFTC to follow the law and maintain prohibition on listing prediction contracts involving gaming and sports
WASHINGTON —Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)joined over 20 Democratic colleagues to urge Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig to abstain from intervening in pending litigation involving prediction markets and to maintain the Commission’s prohibition on CFTC-registered platforms listing prediction contracts involving gaming, including sports, terrorism, assassination.
On November 19, 2025, Chairman Seligtestifiedbefore the Senate Agriculture Committee that he would not pre-judge whether sports event contracts were “gaming” and repeatedly stated that he would look to the courts. Instead, Selig has unilaterally proceeded with rulemaking and intervening in ongoing litigation. Last week, hepostedthat he ‘strongly disagrees’ that prediction markets violate the law, a stark reversal of prior statements before Congress.
“The real-world consequences are already evident. Prediction market platforms are offering contracts that mirror sportsbook wagers and, in some cases, contracts tied to war and armed conflict. These products evade state and tribal consumer protections, generate no public revenue, and undermine sovereign regulatory regimes,”wrote the Senators.
“We therefore urge you to realign the Commission’s actions with the statute and with the testimony you provided to Congress under oath. Declining to intervene on behalf of prediction market platforms and clarifying by rule that enumerated activities are contrary to the public interest would restore confidence that the CFTC is enforcing the law Congress enacted—not reshaping it through post-hoc policy shifts,”continued the Senators.
Read the full letterHERE.