- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the sole federal regulator of prediction markets.
- Chairman Michael Selig has emerged as an ally of the industry in its legal battles with states.
- Here's what to know about Selig and the CFTC.
If you pay attention to Kalshi and Polymarket, there's a name you should probably know by now: Michael Selig.
Selig, the 36-year-old lawyer selected by President Donald Trump to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is the country's top federal regulator of prediction markets.
And in recent weeks, he's made clear he'll be a champion for the burgeoning industry.
"It's something that I think is valuable to society," Selig said of prediction markets on a recent episode of Bloomberg's "Odd Lots" podcast.
Here's what to know about Selig and the agency he leads.
Who is Mike Selig?
Selig graduated from George Washington University Law School in 2015. While in law school, he worked as a law clerk for Chris Giancarlo, then a CFTC commissioner.
He later worked at several private law firms, where he represented many clients regulated by the CFTC.
Selig began serving in the Trump administration in March 2025, when he was named chief counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Crypto Task Force and as a senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins.
He was nominated by Trump to serve as CFTC Commissioner in October and was confirmed by the Senate as part of a larger tranche of nominees on a party-line vote in December.
What is the CFTC?
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is a federal agency, established in 1974, that's in charge of regulating derivatives markets.
That includes futures contracts, which allow people to hedge against potential price fluctuations, as well as swaps.
Because platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are selling what they call "event contracts" — derivatives that either settle at $1 or 0 based on the outcome of future events — they fall under the purview of the CFTC as well.
The CFTC doesn't handle things like stocks — that's up to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.
How Selig is boosting prediction markets
Prediction markets have found themselves in the crosshairs of state regulators, who view the platforms as a means for illegal sports betting.
Several states have taken legal action against prediction markets, including Nevada, which is home to a large gambling industry.
Under Selig, the CFTC has begun to intervene in those cases, starting with a friend-of-the-court brief in Nevada arguing that prediction markets are solely in the domain of federal regulators. That's been met with praise from the industry.
"Today, the CFTC is taking an important step to ensure that these markets have a place here in America," Selig said.
Selig previewed that approach in a speech at the end of January, when he said the commission may "defend its exclusive jurisdiction over commodity derivatives."
It wasn't initially clear that this would happen
When Selig was nominated to lead the CFTC, it wasn't initially clear if he would take a side in prediction market companies' battle with state regulators.
At his confirmation hearing in November, when Selig was asked whether sports contracts offered on prediction market platforms constitute sports betting, he said it was a "really complicated issue."
"It is an interpretive question that is working its way through the courts, and so I will respect the decisions of those courts," Selig said at the time.
Now, Selig's gotten involved with ongoing battles in the courts — and Democrats want him to reverse course again.
In a letter sent to Selig in February, 23 Democratic senators urged the commissioner to "abstain from intervening in pending litigation involving contracts tied to sports, war, or other prohibited events."
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