Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 12
Gensler Files Ohio Appeals Brief Against Sports Bets as Swaps
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 12

Gensler Files Ohio Appeals Brief Against Sports Bets as Swaps

3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 12

Summary

  • Gary Gensler filed a brief Thursday in a federal appeals court in Ohio arguing sports bets do not qualify as swaps under federal financial law.
  • The filing directly challenges positions advanced by Kalshi and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which have argued sports-event contracts fall under federal oversight.
  • Gensler, who oversaw Wall Street regulation for much of the past 2 decades, used the brief to reject the view that financial regulators should police sports betting.
  • The intervention adds a prominent former CFTC leader to a legal fight over whether prediction-market products should be treated like derivatives or gambling.

Insights

Who will control the billion-dollar sports prediction market: state gaming commissions or federal financial regulators?
With billions at stake, will sports prediction markets be regulated as gambling or as complex financial swaps?