Senate Committee Today to Vote on Quintenz CFTC Nomination

• Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry today is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Brian Quintenz as Commodity Futures and Trading Commission chair
• The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission regulates prediction markets
• Quintenz reported in a previous hearing he will likely allow sports event contracts unless told otherwise by Congress

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry today is scheduled to hold a vote that will potentially shape the future of sports event contract trading in the U.S.

The committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Brian Quintenz to chair the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC).

The CFTC regulates U.S. prediction markets and Quintenz has given no indication that he will prohibit companies such as Kalshi or Robinhood from offering sports event contracts to customers.

Big Moment for Sports Event Contracts

Quintenz is one of four nominees the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is scheduled to discuss today before a 5:30 p.m. Senate vote, according to its website.

If the committee does vote in favor of Quintenz chairing the CFTC, his nomination will still have to be approved by the full Senate.

President Donald Trump (R) nominated Quintenz for the position in February. Quintenz is a former CFTC commissioner who currently sits on the board of Kalshi.

If appointed to the CFTC, Quintenz said he will step down from Kalshi’s board and recuse himself from any manner regarding Kalshi for one year.

The gambling industry will be keying an eye on the nomination, as Quintenz made it fairly clear during an early June hearing the CFTC will continue to allow brokers to offer sports event contracts to customers, unless directed by Congress or the courts to prohibit the contracts.

The law, he said, is very clear regarding derivatives contracts such as sports event trading contracts. Quintenz noted it is the job of the CFTC to uphold and defend the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA), which brokers argue preempts state attempts to regulate sports event contracts.

Who Regulates Sports Event Contracts?

Quintenz will play a key role in the future of sports event contracts, as many hoped he would change the commission’s stance on the contracts.

Brokerages offerings sports event contracts have long maintained that prediction markets can only be regulated by the CFTC and states have no say in their offerings. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Kalshi officials have noted their sports event contracts differentiate from traditional sports betting as they are not played “against the house,” but traded between users who purchase contracts on either side of an outcome.

State gaming regulators maintain the markets need to be beholden to regulations, taxes, and license fees that sports betting and gaming operators are required to follow.