President Donald Trump backed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s exclusive authority over prediction markets on Tuesday, while also declaring the U.S. as the world’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) capital.
Trump Says States Must Follow ‘Rules Of The Road’
Trump said via his Truth Social that prediction platforms will “thrive” under the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction and that states should be prohibited from creating separate rules for this industry.
“Under my leadership, we are setting ‘rules of the road’ that are the Gold Standard for the States,” Trump said. “Other Countries are after this new form of Financial Market, and we want to remain at the top.”
Trump also targeted New York Attorney General Letitia James, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for opposing prediction markets.
Crypto A ‘Major Industry’
Trump also reiterated that the U.S. is the “Crypto Capital of the World” and his administration won’t let other nations threaten America’s leadership.
“It is a major industry, and we must protect it,” he said, referring to the cryptocurrency market in particular.
Trump’s tweet comes in response to recent developments where states, such as Minnesota, are challenging the CFTC’s authority. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently signed a law criminalizing prediction markets, which the Trump administration swiftly sued, setting up a potential federal showdown.
The Big Showdown
The CFTC has firmly defended the agency's "exclusive jurisdiction" over prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi, having previously filed lawsuits against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York and Wisconsin to block state-level bans.
These developments have sparked a big debate over the balance between federal and state-level jurisdiction.
Minnesota, for example, became the first state to outlaw prediction markets last week.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has pushed legislation to ban CFTC-regulated platforms from offering sports-related contracts, arguing that the agency is "completely unequipped" to regulate prediction markets.
Moreover, James sued Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Gemini Space Station Inc. (NASDAQ:GEMI) last month, deeming the two exchanges' prediction markets illegal gambling.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock/ Joshua Sukoff
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