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Chair to CFTC, Rostin Behnam, calls Congress to address the lack of cryptocurrency regulation and laws surrounding betting on election results at the SIFI annual meeting. CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam calls on Congress to act on crypto regulation and election betting. Only in 2024, Behnam sure no legislative change happened but relies on a new Congress and President in 2025. CFTC took legal action against a rule made by the court that allowed K also called Kalsh to bet on the result of the US election last month.
The chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Rostin Behnam, noted recently that Congress has done nothing on the matter of crypto regulation and predictive betting on elections. During the SIFMA meeting, Behnam laid down the idea of having legal frameworks and regulations for these emerging industries.
CFTC Presses For Action on Crypto Regulations and Election Betting Laws
However, at the SIFMA annual meeting, CFTC Chair Behnam again reiterated his previous call to Congress to give it guidance on its approach to the regulation of cryptos. Nevertheless, he complained about the current legal state of affairs mentioning the dynamics, pointing to such things as the sign of movement and increasing use of cryptocurrency. In his opinion, the framework does not possess the required level of cohesion to properly moderate the crypto markets.
Besides, Behnam underlined the fact that there were holes in the system because of the lack of crypto regulation. He pointed out what is wrong with the central clearing of spot markets and what may go wrong in tokenized and blockchainized financial markets. He said Behnam called on Congress to give better direction with reference to these matters.
However, recognizing the need for better-defined laws, the CFTC Chair recently commented that lawmakers have little hope of enacting any substantive laws related to cryptocurrencies this year. Consequently, the short legislative session in Washington and the focus on other important legislative priorities, such as passing a federal budget, have limited their options. He pointed out that legislators will likely have to address most major developments after the 2024 elections.
Internet Debate over Predictive Election Betting
Furthermore, legislative provisions have been urged by Behnam for predictive election betting. That is why we find the CFTC involved in this subject, especially about prediction markets in which people can bet on specific occurrences such as an election. According to Behnam, there is nothing wrong with these markets as a means of forecasting different sectors business or otherwise but in the case of elections, these markets have legal and ethical implications.
The CFTC has always held the position that contracts that enable people to wager on the results of elections are illegal. Behnam reacted negatively to the designation of the agency as an ‘‘election cop.’’ He argued that such markets should be regulated under more rigid legal provisions made by Congress.
He said Moreover, the controversy in election betting has finally turned into a legal issue between the CFTC and Kalshi, a predictions market. The commission last year halted Kalshi from offering election contracts asserting that such offerings are against the public interest. Kalshi on the same decided to go to court by filing a petition against the commission and that remains an unsolved issue.
In September 2023, a federal judge dismissed the commission’s claims that the commission had exceeded its authority when it sought to prohibit Kalshi from offering election contracts. However, the CFTC has not given up and has recently appealed the ruling last month According to her, the CFTC has been in a constant battle for the decision.
