The news is the latest sign the Trump camp intends to take a laissez-faire regulatory approach to prediction markets, after the Biden istration’s more restrictive philosophy.
The former Crypto.com advisory council member said: “It is my great honour to be nominated by President Trump as the next Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where I had served as a Commissioner in his last istration.
“The CFTC plays a critical role in maintaining robust hedging and price discovery markets that are the envy of the globe.
“The agency is also well poised to ensure the USA leads the world in blockchain technology and innovation. I look forward to working with President Trump’s incredible financial regulatory team.”
Quintenz previously served as a CFTC commissioner for a four-year stretch between 2017 and 2021, where he became known for his vocal advocacy of regulatory reform in favour of new financial products.
CFTC appointment bullish sign for prediction markets
Acting CFTC chairman Caroline Pham blasted the “anti-innovation” approach of the regulator earlier in the month when announcing an prediction markets roundtable.
Prediction markets, which includes political betting and sports event contracts, are seen by some in industry as a new frontier for gaming in the US.
Prior to the inauguration it had been unclear exactly how the second Trump istration would treat sports contracts.Analysts at Regulus Partners said in January: “We struggle with the idea that a Trump White House and a Republican Congress will let investing to become sports betting by another name just because the first operator has ‘crypto’ in the title – and Trump likes crypto.
“If CFDs can offer sports, then the states have just lost their right to regulate and tax sports betting.”
Kalshi announced the same month that Donald Trump Jr. would be ing the business as a strategic advisor, which many saw as a bullish sign for predication markets.
Robinhood, via a partnership with Kalshi, and Crypto.com both saw their Super Bowl sports contracts frozen by the regulator earlier in the month amid an investigation.
Despite the regulatory hiccup, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was bullish about the new product during the retail trading platform’s Q4 earnings call yesterday (12 February).
Calling prediction markets “the future”, Tenev said Robinhood would take a leading role in developing the product in future.
He said: “As with any new innovative asset class, we’re pushing the boundaries here, and there’s not regulatory clarity across all of it yet, in particular, sports, which you mentioned.
“But we believe in it, and we’re going to be a leader. So, you should expect us to not just offer it, but continue to drive and push for regulatory clarity industry-wide.”
