Former CFTC chair talks prediction markets: ‘Betting on sports is gaming’

Saturday, April 18, 2026 9:15 PM
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  • Grant Mitchell, Covers

The former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said prediction markets weren’t initially intended to offer sports event contracts…

The rising popularity and ensuing controversy following prediction markets have been well-documented. Gensler’s recent quotes add more fuel to the fire, as he stated that sports contracts were never supposed to be in the picture for prediction outlets.

“I never once ever heard a member of Congress or their staffs suggest that the law they were writing, acting upon, and voting on was for our little agency, the CFTC, to have oversight over sports betting,” Gensler, who served as CFTC chair from 2009-14 and 2021-25, told Barron’s.