Change afoot
Despite the rapid rise to prominence and popularity of prediction and event market betting in the US, the vertical has faced many legal battles.
Regulatory winds of change are strongly blowing in favor of the market, though, after President Donald Trump nominated Brian Quintenz to head up the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Quintenz, a former commissioner of the CTFC, took to X with news of his nomination, stating his eagerness to work with Trump’s “incredible regulatory team:”
The prediction and events betting space stole headlines late 2024 into 2025 after offering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts on the presidential election and Super Bowl LIX.
The CFTC tried and failed in a federal appeals court to halt bets on the election offered by prediction market provider Kashi. On February 4, the CFTC formally requested stock trading platform Robinhood to bar customers from accessing sports event contracts after the US-based firm announced it was taking bets on Super Bowl LIX.
sits on the board of Kalshi
The President’s choice of Quintenz, who sits on the board of Kalshi and previously worked with Crypto.com as an advisory council member, suggests a rosier future for the vertical.
Suited for the role
The Trump Administration sent Republican Quintenz’s CFTC nomination to the US Senate Tuesday, while also referring their pick to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for a hearing, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing congressional records.
Trump also nominated Quintenz for the CFTC commissioner role in 2017, a post the President’s nominee held until 2021. In his former role, Quintenz headed the federal agency’s technology advisory committee.
Quintenz’ most recent role was Head of Policy at Andreessen Horowitz’s 16z crypto cryptocurrency subsidiary.
16z crypto’s Managing Partner Chris Dixon took to X stating that his former colleague would “make a fantastic CFTC Chair and will serve the American people honorably.”
Strategic moves
While Crypto.com, Kalshi, and Robinhood have all gotten pushback from the CFTC for their prediction or event contracts, according to the Covers: “Kalshi’s sports event contracts have not faced the same sort of official scrutiny from the CFTC.”
Kalshi also added Donald Trump Junior as its strategic advisor in January.
If Quintenz succeeds in replacing Republican commissioner Caroline Pham as CFTC Chair, the likes of Robinhood, Kalshi, and Crypto are poised to take advantage.