Many states are trying to crack down on the newest frontier in the financial wild west: prediction markets. Although best known as places for betting on sports, which the Supreme Court ruled is legal during President Donald Trump’s first term, these platforms have ballooned in usage in the past year with users betting on all manner of topics from presidential elections to warfare. The conflicts of interest and questionably moral options to bet on the misfortune of others has prompted many states to try and rein these platforms in.
But the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent federal agency that regulates the United States derivatives markets, is not a fan. In 2026, the CFTC sued Illinois, New York, Arizona, Connecticut and, most recently, Minnesota for efforts to restrict or ban prediction markets.
