CFTC Official Says States Cannot Police Prediction Market Providers
According to CFTC Chair Mike Selig, the agency will keep defending its claimed exclusive authority over prediction markets, while recent joint CFTC-SEC guidance addresses tokenized securities and related digital assets.
Fact Check
The claim has two main parts, and both are supported. First, CoinDesk's interview report says Mike Selig stated the CFTC would continue defending its 'exclusive regulatory authority' over prediction markets in court and explicitly said states cannot substitute gambling law for federal derivatives oversight. That directly supports the statement that a CFTC official said states cannot police prediction market providers and that the agency will keep defending that authority. Second, the official SEC press release from March 17, 2026 confirms there was recent joint SEC-CFTC interpretive guidance on crypto assets, and it expressly includes 'digital securities' in the token taxonomy. CoinDesk further ties that guidance to Selig's comments that the agencies can use it to determine whether a token is a security and avoid jurisdictional conflict over tokenized securities. The CFTC speech provides additional official background showing Selig had already announced a joint SEC-CFTC taxonomy effort. I found no fetched evidence contradicting the substance of the claim.
Summary
CFTC Chair Mike Selig said the agency will continue defending in court what he described as its exclusive regulatory authority over prediction markets. Speaking at Vanderbilt University’s Digital Assets Summit, Selig said products legally offered on CFTC-regulated exchanges fall within the agency’s remit. He also referenced final interpretive guidance issued last month by the CFTC and SEC covering tokenized securities and related assets, linking the prediction market dispute to broader federal digital asset oversight.
Terms & Concepts
- Prediction market: A market where contracts trade on the outcome of future events and may fall under derivatives regulation.
- CFTC: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. federal regulator that oversees derivatives markets.
- Tokenized securities: Traditional securities represented in token form on blockchain-based systems, subject to securities and market regulation.