CFTC
In short: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the US federal agency that regulates derivatives markets, including the prediction market exchanges that now offer sports event contracts. CFTC regulation operates independently of state gambling commissions, which is what allows platforms like Kalshi to operate nationwide.
Also known as: Commodity Futures Trading Commission
The CFTC’s role in sports betting is recent and contested. Traditionally responsible for commodities and financial derivatives, the agency began approving prediction market platforms as Designated Contract Markets in the 2010s; when Kalshi began listing sports outcomes as binary contracts in 2024–2025, the CFTC’s existing framework extended to those contracts. State gambling regulators in multiple states have challenged this — the legal question is unresolved as of 2026, with cease-and-desist orders, lawsuits, and federal court decisions all in active motion.