United States: Commodities/Derivatives/Stock Exchanges

Prediction markets have rapidly evolved from a niche financial sector into one of the fastest-growing areas of the derivatives industry, attracting institutional investors, exchanges, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. As the CFTC, courts, and industry participants work to define the regulatory framework for this emerging asset class, questions around market structure, customer protection, and risk management have moved to the forefront. Katten's Financial Markets and Regulation team provides cutting-edge

Moore & Van Allen's Derivatives & Trading team provides comprehensive analysis of recent CFTC and SEC enforcement actions, proposed regulations on crypto assets...

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed new regulations addressing conflicts of interest in vertically integrated market structures where exchanges and clearinghouses share common ownership with trading firms and intermediaries. The proposal introduces prescriptive safeguards including prohibitions on affiliate principal trading firms, enhanced disclosure requirements, and mandatory information barriers to address concerns about preferential treatment, misuse of nonpublic information, and mark

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act promised to bring regulatory stability to the cryptocurrency industry, but faces mounting obstacles to congressional approval. With traditional banks opposing activity-based rewards provisions and law enforcement groups challenging anti-money laundering carve-outs, the bill's path forward has narrowed considerably.

Kalshi's launch of clinical-trial prediction markets creates a novel regulatory challenge at the intersection of federal derivatives law, pharmaceutical development, and information asymmetry.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission establishes a new Innovation Advisory Committee while simultaneously issuing guidance on pricing transparency for event-contract derivatives. Meanwhile, the SEC pursues fraud charges against a private fund adviser for alleged misappropriation and undisclosed fees, and a federal court in Connecticut denies Kalshi's attempt to block state gambling law enforcement.

The CFTC has adopted significant amendments to its margin requirements for uncleared swaps, fundamentally changing how seeded funds are treated and expanding eligible collateral options. These changes eliminate longstanding barriers that forced fund sponsors to structure vehicles offshore and restricted the use of money market fund shares as collateral. The Final Rule brings U.S. regulations into closer alignment with international standards while addressing practical challenges faced by market participants

Last Spring, we provided an overview of the Texas Stock Exchange. One year later, the Exchange has clearly moved from concept to reality, following its June 27, 2026 Final Confidence Test and the launch of phased trading in July. The key question now is whether the Exchange can scale smoothly, attract listings, and build meaningful liquidity as it expands through 2026 and into 2027.

The U.S. and UK have released groundbreaking recommendations for cross-border digital asset cooperation, while major financial institutions successfully execute tokenized asset trades in production environments. Meanwhile, regulatory bodies worldwide advance frameworks for digital currencies and on-chain derivatives markets, signaling a coordinated push toward mainstream adoption of blockchain-based financial infrastructure.