CME CEO Duffy and CFTC Chair Selig clash again at prediction market advisory meeting
The CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee met on August 20–21 to discuss prediction markets and event contracts. CME Group CEO Terry Duffy clashed with CFTC Chair Selig over oversight approaches. Committee members raised concerns about insider trading risks and unapproved event contracts. The meeting included more than 30 members from firms including Robinhood, Nasdaq, and CME Group. No votes or policy decisions were announced.
The repeated Selig-Duffy confrontation hardens CME Group's position as the most aggressive critic of loose event-contract rules. That pressure pushes the CFTC toward stricter self-certification and surveillance requirements. For Kalshi and Polymarket, each new compliance layer means longer delays and higher costs on every contract launch. The advisory committee's visible split means rulemaking may emerge fractured, with no predictable standard platforms can plan around.
Duffy's warnings about manipulation risk give congressional ban advocates fresh talking points they lacked a month ago. Robinhood and Novig, with deeper compliance benches, absorb the burden more easily than leaner startups. The first formal CFTC proposal will reveal which side has captured the agency's direction. Until then, every platform must prepare for rules it cannot yet name.