CFTC’s Selig accuses states of trying to 'lock up' prediction market founders

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig is turning up the heat on his criticisms of states' handling of lawsuits brought against prediction market platforms and their executives.

Speaking at the Cantor Convergence conference, Selig called the state suits "really egregious" and defended the platforms operating under what he has long called the CFTC's "exclusive jurisdiction."

"We're seeing states bring criminal charges, essentially trying to lock up founders and CEOs of these companies that are offering lawful products under a federal regime," he said.

The comments come amid a stretch of battles between the CFTC and roughly a dozen states and cities over whether event contracts offered on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket constitute illegal gambling. Selig argued that the disagreements should be hashed out in court without threatening executives with time in prison.

"Somebody says it's gambling, somebody says it's a derivative," he said. "That's not something that should be at the risk of going to jail."

And instead of fighting on a case-by-case basis in multiple states, Selig wants to see the issue raised to the Supreme Court in a bid to solidify the CFTC's authority.

"I don't understand whether we're going to have every major CEO of an exchange locked up in a jail cell in Utah, or if we can just go to the Supreme Court and hash this thing out on the merits," he said.

On Thursday, the Justice Department and CFTC sued Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin to block his action against Kalshi.

Louisiana also filed a lawsuit Thursday targeting companies including Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood and Coinbase. 

"I am concerned that some of the states are getting very aggressive," Selig said. "We’ll continue to defend our jurisdiction."