CFTC warns of election gambling surge, seeks to keep Kalshi market suspended

According to CoinDesk, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has warned of a looming explosion in election gambling related to the upcoming U.S. election. The CFTC is asking an appeals court to keep a suspension on Kalshi's political prediction market in place while the agency's appeal remains pending.

In a filing on Saturday, the CFTC stated that the lower court's ruling had been interpreted by Kalshi and others as an “open season” for election gambling, referring to a September 6th decision that deemed the CFTC shouldn't stop the company from offering contracts on which party would control both houses of Congress.

The agency highlighted that following this ruling, Wall Street giant Interactive Brokers announced they would be offering contracts on the presidential election through their CFTC-regulated subsidiary. The CFTC indicated that other CFTC-regulated exchanges would likely follow suit unless the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit extends the suspension of Kalshi's contracts during the appeal.

The CFTC reiterated that “a surge in election gambling on U.S. futures exchanges would harm the public interest.” These harms include market manipulation and undermining election integrity.