CFTC Sues Utah to Block Its Restrictions on Prediction Markets

Odaily reports: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah seeking to block Utah from taking action against prediction markets. A week earlier, Utah officials sued prediction market platform Kalshi and its affiliates, seeking to recover up to $60 million in profits allegedly obtained illegally through event contracts.

The CFTC stated that Utah is attempting to circumvent congressional intent and restrict the operations of exchanges registered by the agency. The complaint notes that the relevant event contracts qualify as swaps under the federal Commodity Exchange Act, and exchanges offering trading in such contracts are subject to CFTC regulation; Utah's actions infringe on federal regulatory authority over commodity derivatives markets.

This lawsuit is yet another dispute between federal and state governments over jurisdiction concerning prediction markets. New Jersey officials in September of last year asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against Kalshi, and similar lawsuits have been filed in Michigan, Ohio, and other states; as of Tuesday, the Supreme Court had not announced whether it would accept the case. (Cointelegraph)