Citing real-world consequences, Democratic U.S. senators on Friday challenged the chairman of the CFTC to hold to his previous commitment regarding prediction markets and rules against event contracts that amount to placing bets.
Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, along with California’s Adam Schiff and 21 of their colleague,s urged CFTC Chairman Michael Selig to abstain from intervening in pending litigation and to stick to prohibitions on CFTC-registered platforms listing event contracts involving gaming, including betting on sports, terrorism, or assassinations.
A letter signed by 23 Democratic senators, including Cortez Masto and Sen. Jacky Rosen, took issue with event contracts that have proliferated under Selig’s watch.
Futures bets have received attention this week as betting websites reported that Kalshi sold nearly $900 million in futures contracts on the Super Bowl alone.
On November 19, 2025, Selig told a Senate committee he would look to the courts to decide the issue. Instead, he has unilaterally proceeded with rulemaking and intervention in ongoing litigation. Last week, he posted that he “strongly disagrees” that prediction markets violate the law, a stark reversal of prior statements before Congress, according to a press release from Cortez Masto’s office.
“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,” the senators wrote. See the full letter below.
On Tuesday, Democratic Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus introduced the Fair Markets and Sports Integrity Act to curb the emerging prediction markets.
