There is something genuinely strange happening at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating derivatives markets. Under Chairman Michael Selig, the CFTC has challenged states seeking to regulate prediction platforms, arguing that federally designated contract markets fall within its exclusive jurisdiction.
To understand why this dispute matters, let’s return to the original purpose of futures markets. Congress developed the federal framework for commodity futures during the early 20th century partly to stabilize an agricultural…
