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U.S. regulator declares do-over on prediction markets, throwing out Biden era ‘frolic’

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U.S. regulator declares do-over on prediction markets, throwing out Biden era 'frolic'

The U.S. government is formally reversing its previous stance on banning certain activities at prediction market firms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, with U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig moving Wednesday to withdraw a proposed event-contracts rule from 2024 and scrapping an earlier advisory he said confused the industry.

In 2024, the derivatives regulator proposed a rule that would have banned contracts based on the outcome of political events, legally equating them with illicit contracts on war, terrorism and assassination and calling them “contrary to the public interest.” That rule never advanced to a final stage before President Donald Trump returned to the White House and appointed new CFTC leadership. The CFTC had allowed prediction markets based on political events to launch after losing a court fight over Kalshi’s intended offering that same year.

The recently confirmed chairman of the agency, Selig, has now cleared the decks of that and a minor advisory issued in September on certain contract markets.

“The 2024 event contracts proposal reflected the prior administration’s frolic into merit regulation with an outright prohibition on political contracts ahead of the 2024 presidential election,” Selig said in a statement. “The Commission is withdrawing that proposal and will advance a new rulemaking grounded in a rational and coherent interpretation of the Commodity Exchange Act that promotes responsible innovation in our derivatives markets in line with Congressional intent.”

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Selig’s action is unsurprising, following closely on the heels of his remarks last week that signaled it was coming. He said he’d “directed CFTC staff to move forward with drafting an event contracts rulemaking.”

The Trump administration’s embrace of the prediction markets has paved the way for increased interest from companies seeking to throw their hat into the sector, such as Coinbase, or the tangential pursuit of similar products from Cboe.

The September advisory Selig pulled back had been meant to caution platforms about litigation concerns, he said, but it had “inadvertently created confusion and uncertainty for our market participants.”

The CFTC is expected to become a central voice in digital assets oversight, in which the prediction markets have had an overlapping interest. Selig is working on a number of new initiatives, and the Congress is negotiating its crypto market structure bill that — among many other points — is meant to establish the CFTC as the rightful watchdog of crypto spot markets that don’t involve securities.

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Read More: U.S. SEC, CFTC chiefs push united front on paving the way for crypto

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Crypto World

Kyle Samani leaves Multicoin in ‘bittersweet moment’ to explore new tech

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Kyle Samani leaves Multicoin in ‘bittersweet moment’ to explore new tech

Multicoin Capital’s co-founder, Kyle Samani, said he is stepping down as managing partner of the crypto investment firm after 10 years in the industry. 

Samani called it a “bittersweet moment” in a post on Wednesday, adding, “I am excited to take some time off and explore new areas of technology,” which he later revealed would include AI and robotics.

He added that he is “more confident than ever that crypto is going to fundamentally rewire the circuitry of finance.”

“The Clarity Act will unlock a tidal wave of new entrants and spur adoption unlike anything we’ve seen,” Samani said, adding that he is particularly bullish on Solana and intends to continue making personal investments in the space and supporting Multicoin portfolio companies.

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However, the post appears to conflict with a reportedly deleted earlier X post, in which he stated: “I once believed in the web3 vision. dapps. I don’t anymore…Crypto is just fundamentally not as interesting as many crypto enthusiasts wanted. Myself included.” 

Samani has previously criticized the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems.

Source: Kyle Samani

Last month, Samani said discovering Ethereum was his “entry into crypto” in 2016, after becoming convinced by permissionless finance and smart contracts.

However, he later lost faith in Ethereum, saying he was dissatisfied with how Ethereum developers addressed scaling.

Samani helped turn Multicoin into a $5.9 billion company

He came across the Solana shortly after founding Multicoin in May 2017, which went on to lead some of Solana’s earliest investment rounds in 2018.

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