U.S. Senators Pressure CFTC to Comprehensively Ban "Death-Related" Prediction Market Contracts

Odaily News Six U.S. Democratic senators have sent a letter to Michael Selig, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), urging him to clearly "categorically prohibit" any prediction market contracts directly or highly correlated with individual deaths. They argue that such products "incentivize physical harm or death" and pose a "dangerous national security risk." The senators cited several cases, including contracts once listed by Polymarket regarding "whether Artemis II would explode," contracts concerning the fate of Venezuelan President Maduro, and contracts related to the Russia-Ukraine war. The CFTC recently submitted legal documents to a federal appeals court emphasizing its "exclusive jurisdiction" over the U.S. commodity derivatives market, but has not yet issued a public response to the letter. (CNBC)