Ep 511: Regulatory Roulette: CFTC U-Turn On Kalshi & Montana Sweeps Ban

Jessica Welman is back in the host's chair for today's episode of iGaming Daily, sponsored by Optimove, for a discussion on a constantly developing topic.

Joined as always by Charlie Horner, Jess is back to her favourite topic in the world, event contracts and Kalshi. There's been a significant development, and as it happens, another one after we finished recording. As Jess and Charlie explain, the CFTC filed a motion to dismiss he appeal court case concerning election event contracts offered by Kalshi. After arguing against these contracts in January, the CFTC has now indicated they wish to drop the case. And at roughly 5PM Eastern yesterday, the DC Court approved the dismissal.

So, what does this mean? Luckily the rest of the podcast is not yet out of date, as Jess & Charlie discuss whether this suggests a lighter regulatory touch by the CFTC, and whether this could lead to a wide range of contracts being self-certified quickly by various groups, open the door to more than just sports betting, and highlight the internal upheaval at the CFTC.

They also touch on the concerns expressed by the NFL and MLB, particularly around market manipulation.

In the second half of the pod, things are no less chaotic. Montana has advanced what is described as the first state-level law specifically designed to crack down on sweepstakes gaming on online sites, and its expected to become law. The language is described as "very broad" and designed to go after the dual currency model typically used in sweepstakes gaming, but could this inadvertently impact other things, such as loyalty systems at McDonald's and Starbucks?

Host: Jessica Welman
Guests: Charlie Horner
Producer: Anaya McDonald
Editor: Scott Fulton

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