Sponsors (3)
The bill prioritizes protecting the public and election integrity by banning or empowering the CFTC to prohibit certain event-based market contracts, at the cost of reduced product innovation, some legitimate market uses, and increased regulatory uncertainty for exchanges and platforms.
The general public and taxpayers — markets will be blocked from offering contracts that allow betting on terrorism, assassination, war, or other unlawful acts, reducing exposure to morally objectionable and potentially destabilizing trading products.
Voters and taxpayers — the bill limits event contracts tied to election results, which reduces financial incentives for market actors to try to influence or profit from electoral outcomes and helps protect election integrity.
Financial market participants — the CFTC is given express authority to prohibit other event contracts deemed 'contrary to the public interest,' enabling regulators to act against emerging harmful products.
Financial institutions and platforms — the bill’s broad 'contrary to the public interest' standard gives the CFTC wide discretion, creating regulatory uncertainty that could chill product development and investment decisions.
Multi-state platforms and state regulators — differing state exemptions for 'gaming' may produce a patchwork of rules, complicating compliance and raising operational costs for platforms operating across states.
Investors, researchers, and taxpayers — bans on election-based contracts could limit legitimate hedging strategies and tools for price discovery or information aggregation, reducing some market functions that can benefit the public.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars registered exchanges from listing or trading event contracts tied to unlawful acts, terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, election results, government conduct, or similar activities, with a narrow state gaming exception.
Introduced March 5, 2026 by Blake D. Moore · Last progress March 5, 2026
Prohibits registered derivatives exchanges and other registered entities from listing or trading “event contracts” tied to certain sensitive occurrences or contingencies. Covered categories include unlawful activity, terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, election results (including ballot initiatives/referenda), and conduct by government or its personnel; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) can also bar other similar activities it deems contrary to the public interest. The bill defines “gaming,” provides a narrow exception where a State law expressly exempts conduct, and becomes effective 180 days after enactment.