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Better Markets backs CME CEO’s prediction market concerns

23 August 2026
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Dennis Kelleher, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement related to the meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee and CME CEO Terrance Duffy’s remarks at that meeting:

“The CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee meeting was little more than an echo chamber of like-minded prediction markets industry leaders’ talking points, many of which were flagrantly wrong and inaccurate, seemingly knowingly so. Unfortunately, the Chair has turned the former independent regulatory agency into little more than a mindless cheerleader for unregulated, nationwide gambling via so-called prediction markets. Thankfully, there was one voice of reason, experience, and expertise on the IAC: CME CEO Terry Duffy.

“Highlighting how extreme the claims and talking points of the Chair and industry really were, Duffy called out prediction gambling markets for what they are, and the CFTC Chair and anyone who cares about real markets that are important to the real economy and all Americans should pay attention.

“Duffy likened prediction markets to ‘carnival barkers at a circus.’ His concerns were:

- Event contracts on prediction markets are easily manipulated by people with insider information, such as the soldier alleged to have profited from an event contract on whether Nicolás Maduro would be captured and a teleprompter operator alleged to have profited from an event contract on what President Trump would say in a speech.
- Prediction markets offer event contracts that have no economic utility, such as an event contract on who is going to win the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.
- The CFTC does not meaningfully review event contracts before they go live, proven by the fact that the CFTC has not opposed any of the 2,500 contracts self-certified since January 2025.

“This is not the first time Duffy has expressed concerns about prediction markets. He has said previously that prediction markets blur the line between investing and gambling.

“Duffy is not the only one expressing these concerns. Craig Donohue, the CEO of Cboe Global Markets, recently expressed concern ‘around trying to regulate sports betting and pop culture events as something called a swap on a CFTC-designed contract market’ because he did not think ‘that was ever what Congress intended for a federal agency to do.’

“One could argue that Duffy, CME, Donohue and Cboe have conflicts of interest, are talking their book, and don’t want competition, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t right and, in this case, they clearly and decidedly are. They understand and value the importance of well-regulated and well-policed markets and the key role they play in the lives of all Americans.

“The CFTC is not a gambling regulator. It used to have credibility, which was essential to fulfilling its vital mission—regulating the $500 trillion derivatives market. That’s what it needs to return to, not call every money-making idea an ‘innovation’ worthy of the CFTC Chair devoting his agency to promoting.

“The CFTC needs to get back to its core mission, stop being an industry toady, and listen to people like Terry Duffy who are industry leaders willing to speak truth to power even when those in power don’t want to hear it.”

Better Markets backs CME CEO’s prediction market concerns is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.


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