Cortez Masto Accuses CFTC of Enriching Trump Family

Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto claimed that the leadership of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is steering federally regulated derivatives platforms to circumvent state and tribal gambling laws. According to the senator, this move directly enriches the family of President Donald Trump. Cortez Masto alleged that the Trump family has made heavy investments in prediction market platforms.

In a commentary published by the CFTC on November 5, designated contract market (DCM) license holders were asked to remove "domestic geographic restrictions" within 30 days. Before this decision, prediction markets had suspended sports trading in jurisdictions where courts had issued preliminary injunctions in lawsuits over whether sports contracts violate state gambling and consumer protection laws.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig argues that offering contracts uniformly across all jurisdictions under CFTC oversight is contrary to the core purpose of the Commodity Exchange Act and its fair access requirements. Selig instructed markets that apply geographic access restrictions to reopen trading or to explain to the Market Oversight Division, within 30 days, why compliance is not possible.

Cortez Masto argues that sports and casino-style contracts are gambling and fall under the authority of states and tribes. In March, she co-sponsored, together with Senators Adam Schiff and John Curtis, the bipartisan Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, a bill that would ban prediction market contracts resembling sports or casino games. According to the senator, throughout Trump's second term the CFTC has failed to fulfill its responsibility to prevent illegal gambling on prediction markets.