Legal

CFTC suspended officials who flagged concerns about Polymarket, Crypto.com and Gemini

Updated 6d ago

A New York Times investigation published May 24, 2026 found that senior career officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who raised concerns about Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Gemini Titan were suspended and pushed out. The officials had questioned whether Crypto.com treated small bettors fairly and whether Polymarket had adequate safeguards, according to the report. The same firms later received CFTC approvals amid agency layoffs and sidelined investigators. Multiple sources noted Trump family ties to the three companies, which career staff were examining before their removal. The controversy has attracted White House attention.

Why this matters?

Polymarket's 2022 CFTC settlement required compliance cooperation with career staff; their removal eliminates the internal oversight layer that understood that consent order. Any future enforcement against the platform now relies on political appointees who approved its operations.

The bigger picture

Joins a running storyline in which Polymarket faces simultaneous DOJ insider-trading charges, CFTC preemption lawsuits in multiple states, and White House demands for sole federal control — all while the compliance staff who scrutinized the platform have been removed.

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