PredictIt, a crypto, and fiat currency gambling platform have been banned by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The crypto exchange enables Americans to wager on who will be elected to Congress or the next president.
The CFTC has ordered the crypto and political gambling platform to suspend operations in the US for breaking the conditions of its agreement.
The regulator rescinded a letter allowing PredictIt license to operate its non-profit online exchange. The platform allows users to speculate on the likely results of elections and financial events using fiat cash or cryptocurrencies.
The platform works by allowing bettors/traders to purchase shares in anticipation of a prospective outcome; if their prediction is accurate, they receive $1 per share. The site limits wagers to $850, or equivalent bets in crypto.
As the site was administered by the New Zealand-based Victoria University of Wellington, which gave gambling odds and statistics to academic researchers, the CTFC issued it a no-action relief letter in 2014.
The CTFC reversed its prior issuance of permission last week, stating that the exchange was no longer “a small-scale, non-profit, online market for event contracts in the United States for educational purposes.” Predict It contradicted the claim.
The CFTC stated that PredictIt trading in contracts listed in accordance with the 2014 legal interpretation must cease by February 15, 2023. The regulator’s decision did not entail enforcement.
This means that citizens can still wager on markets such as the 2024 presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
