Coinbase urges CFTC to keep prediction markets under rules

Coinbase has urged U.S. derivatives regulators to keep prediction markets under existing rules, filing a formal response as legal pressure builds around event-based contracts.

Summary

• Coinbase has submitted a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission arguing that prediction markets fall within existing regulatory authority.
• Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said event-based contracts resemble traditional futures and called for a principles-based framework.

According to a letter submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and addressed to Secretary Christopher Kirkpatrick on April 30, Coinbase responded to the agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on prediction markets, arguing that such products already fit within current statutory authority.

In the filing, Coinbase described prediction markets as “one of the most dynamic areas of derivatives markets,” while stating that no new legislative mandate is required to oversee them under existing frameworks. Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad signed the letter and called on regulators to preserve a principles-based approach that prioritises market integrity.

Shirzad told the press that event-based contracts are not a new concept and compared them to traditional futures, explaining that both mechanisms aggregate dispersed information into pricing signals. Coinbase’s submission also asked the CFTC to clarify how it intends to exercise its authority to block contracts deemed against the public interest.

Coinbase said in the letter that consistent safeguards should apply to all users, whether they trade directly on platforms or through intermediaries, adding that regulatory clarity would help maintain trust as participation expands.

The filing comes as disputes over event contracts continue to surface at the state level, including a lawsuit in Wisconsin that has added urgency to the regulatory debate. Coinbase’s position places it among firms seeking federal clarity at a time when jurisdiction between state authorities and federal regulators remains contested.

Earlier, Shirzad addressed a separate policy issue tied to stablecoin rewards during negotiations around the CLARITY Act, telling Reuters that revised language preserved “what matters” for crypto platforms while introducing limits on rewards that resemble bank interest. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks negotiated that compromise, which restricts deposit-like yields while allowing activity-based incentives tied to platform use.

With the Senate Banking Committee targeting a markup of the CLARITY Act in the week of May 11, Coinbase’s latest filing on prediction markets adds to its ongoing engagement with U.S. policymakers across multiple areas of crypto regulation.