WATCH: Rep. Gabe Vasquez Calls on Regulator to Close Gambling Loophole
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On April 16, 2026, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) pressed Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig during a House Agriculture Committee hearing, calling out prediction markets as functionally indistinguishable from sports betting and urging the CFTC to focus on its core mission.
“Let’s make this clear: the CFTC was not created or intended to regulate sports gambling. States and Tribes have systems for licensing, integrity monitoring, responsible gaming (such as age verification and addiction support), and enforcement. If this product looks like sports betting, the public should expect sports-betting protections and regulations,” Vasquez added. “At the end of the day, this comes down to a simple question: are we regulating real economic risk, or are we allowing prediction markets to steal billions of dollars in an unregulated free-for-all with no consumer protection, as Congress and the CFTC turn a blind eye.”
WATCH TODAY’S HEARING CLIP HERE
During the hearing, Vasquez challenged Chairman Selig to distinguish between traditional sportsbook odds and prediction market contracts, underscoring that most consumers cannot tell the difference. In response, Chairman Selig — the top regulator at the CFTC — conceded that he was “not an expert” on identifying betting lines, further showing that the agency should not be housing sports betting on the markets it oversees.
Vasquez emphasized that the CFTC was created to oversee the derivatives market and hedge real economic risk, not to regulate platforms that are functioning as nationwide online sports betting platforms.
“The CFTC’s role is to oversee derivatives markets. Traditionally, that has meant helping businesses hedge real economic risk. Airlines hedge fuel costs. Farmers hedge crop prices. That is very different from putting money on the outcome of a baseball game,” Vasquez said during the hearing, “On a prediction market, consumers can trade on whether Astros second baseman Jose Altuve hits a home run in tonight’s game against the Rockies. Does a contract on a single player’s performance on a single statistic hedge any real economic risk?”
He also raised concerns that these platforms lack basic protections like age verification, licensing standards, and safeguards against problem gambling.
Vasquez has been a leader in holding the CFTC accountable and calling for protections, integrity, and transparency in prediction markets.
- Vasquez first brought this issue up in a December 2025 House Agriculture Committee hearing on the reauthorization of the CFTC. He then fought for an amendment to close this loophole during the Farm Bill markup and protect Tribal sovereignty.
- Vasquez is a cosponsor of the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act, a bill that addresses flagrant corruption to stop government employees from using insider information for personal gain on prediction markets.
- Vasquez also agreed to cosponsor the bipartisan Event Contract Enforcement Act to prevent predictions markets from offering bets based on terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, illegal activity, election outcomes, or government activities, which undermine public trust.
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