As crypto and prediction markets expand, their regulator shrinks

Trump-era staff reductions have significantly hampered enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and its ability to regulate burgeoning new prediction and cryptocurrency markets, where hundreds of billions are traded each week.

By the end of 2025, the CFTC had 21% fewer staff on its payroll when compared to the previous 10-year average, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management data. Between January 2024 and January 2025 alone, staffing dropped 22%. And the number of CFTC enforcement actions dropped even further. The agency made nearly 80% fewer enforcement actions in 2025 when compared to the annual average for the previous decade, according to the agency's annual reports.

The CFTC started hemorrhaging staff soon after President Trump won the 2024 election. This was not a coincidence, according to Jeff Le Rich, who worked as a CFTC enforcement lawyer between 2005 and 2025.