New York Congressman Ritchie Torres argued that instead of trying to ban election betting contracts, United States regulators should focus on regulating these contracts to prevent bad actors from gaining market share.
“I would ask that the Commission consider working toward a plan for regulating these markets, rather than preventing them from existing in regulated markets,” Torres wrote in a recent letter to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Rostin Behnam, shared by Politico.
Torres extends hand to help with regulations
The crypto-friendly democrat argued that the regulator should “focus its energies and resources on promoting the responsible innovation for which our financial markets are known.”
“I am more than happy to work with the CFTC to provide the resources needed and to address any concerns together,” Torres declared.
He believes that the CFTC’s effort and resources spent fighting to ban election betting contracts through “further court challenges” could ultimately cause “broader harm” by delaying work on regulations crucial for election integrity and consumer protection. He noted:
“Delays could allow illegal and unregulated markets to continue gaining market share.”
Torres suggested that the CFTC would be more effective if it collaborated with “regulated registrants” to strengthen election integrity and “protect consumers from the dangers posed by the widespread adoption of illegal and unregulated election markets.”
Related: CFTC submits emergency motion to block Kalshi’s election betting contracts
It comes not long after Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss echoed a similar sentiment that the CFTC should avoid banning event contracts on decentralized prediction markets.
“Unlike polls, pundits, or expert opinions, they require participants to put their money where their mouth is — to have skin in the game,” Winklevoss claimed in an Aug. 9 post.
The letter coms after a Sept. 12 opinion was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, with Judge Jia Cobb arguing that the CFTC “exceeded its statutory authority” by issuing an order halting Kalshi’s election markets.
The commission argued that gambling on the US political races could disrupt markets and threaten election integrity.
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