SEC chair Atkins opens public comment on prediction market ETFs after blocking two dozen funds
SEC Chair Paul Atkins instructed agency staff to open a public comment period on prediction market ETFs, he said Wednesday, giving no timeline for the review. The move follows earlier holds placed on applications from Bitwise, Roundhill Investments, and GraniteShares. Roundhill had filed paperwork for six funds this year that would derive value from event contracts on presidential and Senate races. Atkins signaled particular caution, noting the products differ meaningfully from anything the commission has previously approved. The comment request marks active agency review but stops short of announcing any specific rulemaking or approval pathway.
Roundhill, Bitwise, and GraniteShares now face a dual bottleneck: open-ended compliance costs from the indefinite ETF holds, plus an unspecified public-comment timeline that gives Atkins leverage to delay without rejecting. The structure lets the SEC absorb political pressure while rival platforms build direct CFTC channels.
Becomes the second major SEC action this week on prediction market fund structures, after Atkins blocked two dozen ETFs indefinitely, leaving the commission internally divided between Peirce's openness and Atkins' caution while the CFTC advances its own sports-contract framework in parallel.