CFTC officials who scrutinized prediction markets reportedly sidelined, suspended, and pushed out

Several senior U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officials who flagged compliance risks tied to prediction market platforms were later suspended, placed under internal review, and ultimately forced to resign, according to a report. The officials had raised concerns including Polymarket's allegedly inadequate anti-fraud safeguards, Crypto.com's purportedly unfair treatment of smaller bettors, and failures by Gemini-linked entities to complete required regulatory reviews. The same report said investigators believed the companies had business connections to the Trump family. Sources cited in the report said then-Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham and senior advisers intervened to help the related firms secure regulatory approvals. By the end of 2025, two officials who voiced concerns were administratively suspended and subjected to internal investigations; three additional officials overseeing crypto enforcement faced similar actions. None were told the specific reasons, the report said. The episode was described as sending an internal message at the CFTC: "don't cause trouble for the industry." The report also said the agency sharply reduced crypto enforcement during Trump's presidency: under Biden, the CFTC brought more than 80 crypto enforcement actions, while during Trump's term it initiated only two, both targeting individual operators rather than major companies. The report added that Pham later joined MoonPay, which partners with Polymarket, and her former senior adviser Brigitte Weyls became General Counsel at Gemini Titan. Current CFTC Chair Michael Selig previously served as corporate counsel for several crypto firms. (Cointelegraph)