Attorneys General from 44 U.S. States Jointly Send Letter to CFTC, Questioning Its Authority to Regulate the Sports Prediction Market

July 29th. Attorneys General from 44 U.S. states jointly wrote to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stating that the CFTC does not have the authority to regulate the sports event prediction market. They urged the CFTC to withdraw the current proposed rule and develop new regulations that comply with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the U.S. Constitution.

The letter pointed out that sports betting has long been regulated by individual states, and the CFTC's proposed rule would significantly expand federal regulatory authority beyond its statutory mandate. Recently, the CFTC has been embroiled in legal disputes with prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket over sports event contract regulation in multiple states.

Currently, state courts in the U.S. have different attitudes towards this issue. The Minnesota court temporarily blocked local enforcement of the prediction market ban this week, allowing Kalshi and Polymarket to continue operating during the litigation period. On the other hand, a New York court once again refused to stop local gambling-related laws against Kalshi, while Michigan and Washington have previously restricted Kalshi from offering sports event prediction contracts.