CFTC Chairman's Bold Move: Next Stops - Crypto, Compute Markets, and Prediction Markets

Written & Compiled by KarenZ, Foresight News

Over a hundred years ago, when futures trading first emerged, it was also labeled "gambling" by American politicians.

Now, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig has pulled that history back into the spotlight.

On August 20, local time in the U.S., at the inaugural meeting of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC), Selig devoted considerable time to reviewing the history of the futures market: 19th-century commodity exchanges faced crackdowns from state "anti-gambling" laws, and commodity options were also restricted for extended periods. Ultimately, however, the United States chose to establish a unified federal regulatory framework, allowing new financial products to develop under clear rules.

Selig's point is not complicated: in his view, the current debates surrounding Crypto, artificial intelligence, and prediction markets are nothing entirely new. The real question regulators need to answer is not just "whether to allow innovation," but how to bring innovation into a market framework that can be regulated.

Accordingly, at this meeting, Selig unveiled for the first time a relatively comprehensive version of what he calls his "Roadmap for the New Frontier of Finance."