Crypto-friendly lawmaker Rep. Ritchie Torres called for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to turn its attention toward regulating election markets following a judge's ruling going against the agency. 

Election markets have been around for years, but on "less secure and unregulated exchanges," the New York Democrat said in a letter sent to CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam on Thursday. Politico first reported the news.

"In light of this, the CFTC should accept the ruling and look forward," Torres wrote. "I encourage you to focus on promoting responsible innovation, regulating exchanges, protecting consumers, and safeguarding the sanctity and integrity of elections from illegal and unregulated actors."

Judge Jia M. Cobb for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Thursday that the CFTC exceeded its authority when it pushed against prediction market Kalshi's move to list contracts tied to U.S. elections. The CFTC appealed that ruling later on Thursday and during a hearing warned the court that election contracts could "undermine confidence in election integrity." 

Kalshi's website currently has a banner on its site that says "trading is paused on elections.kalshi.com pending court process." The CFTC said last year that Kalshi could not offer contracts related to "congressional control contracts." Kalshi then sued the agency in November 2023.

Torres urged the CFTC to consider allocating resources toward regulated entities to protect consumers and election integrity from "illegal and unregulated election markets."

"Additionally, I encourage the CFTC to weigh the resources that further court challenges would consume, as well as the broader harm that further delays could have on election integrity and consumer protection," Torres wrote. "Delays could allow illegal and unregulated markets to continue gaining market share."

Event markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, allow users to bet on the outcome of future events, including on the upcoming U.S. elections or even when certain Taylor Swift albums may be released. Kalshi is regulated by the CFTC, while others, like Polymarket, do not operate in the U.S. 

CFTC Chair Behnam has warned about a "significant uptick" in event contracts listed for trading on exchanges registered with the CFTC since 2021. The CFTC voted in May to propose rules banning bets on political events as those markets quickly expand ahead of November.  

The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。