Columbia Law analysis says CFTC proposal for restricting some event contracts falls short
A Columbia Law School analysis dated June 16 argues that the CFTC's strategic proposal for restricting some event contracts falls short. The piece focuses on the Concerning Event Contract Section, which gives the agency authority to prohibit event contracts on Enumerated Subjects. Separately, the CFTC is accepting public comments through July 27, 2026 on whether event contracts 'involve' an underlying activity, according to a Troutman Pepper Locke newsletter. The commission also published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a structured framework for evaluating event contracts.
Kalshi and Polymarket now face overlapping comment periods on multiple CFTC rulemakings that define which contracts are permitted or prohibited. Any gap between the proposals' classification tests creates compliance uncertainty that could force platforms to pull markets preemptively.
Two other CFTC rulemaking efforts in recent days — the 267-page framework on sports and war contracts and the parallel war-contract restriction rule — aim at the same classification problem from different angles, leaving operators to track multiple comment deadlines.