Prediction market executives will not attend a White House event on Wednesday featuring major leaders from the cryptocurrency and financial industries, despite previous reports indicating they would be included.
President Donald Trump is set to host the event at the White House “with tech leaders tomorrow to strengthen America’s innovative and technological dominance,” a White House official told Politico.
While cryptocurrency executives are expected to attend, prediction market companies will not be part of the event, according to the official.
A Kalshi spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the company believes the White House “decided to focus the event solely on crypto.”
Prediction markets allow users to place wagers on real-world events, ranging from politics and sports to weather, sparking a growing debate over whether the companies operate as gambling platforms or legitimate financial markets.
The event is reportedly intended to serve as a kickoff for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s innovation committee. The CFTC serves as the federal regulator of U.S. derivatives markets.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, the CFTC is hosting the inaugural meeting of the Innovation Advisory Committee, which the CFTC said will chart “a course for the new frontier of finance as innovators, builders, thinkers, and entrepreneurs.”
Prediction markets have become a major flashpoint in Washington as lawmakers, federal regulators, and state officials debate whether and how the rapidly growing industry should be regulated.
Trump has thrown his support behind prediction markets, saying earlier this year that “it is critically important that the CFTC’s exclusive authority over Prediction Markets is maintained, and that they will thrive.”
Several states, meanwhile, have passed legislation seeking to regulate or ban prediction market platforms, arguing that the companies are operating illegal gambling businesses. The disputes have prompted legal challenges from the CFTC in several states.
New York recently sued prediction market platform Kalshi, alleging that the company is operating an illegal gambling business in the state.
Prediction market lawsuits set stage for major court battles
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig condemned the lawsuit and vowed that the agency would “continue to defend its jurisdiction.”
“Rather than seek reasoned answers from the courts, [New York attorney general] Letitia James and New York seek to force an unprecedented sudden shutdown of prediction markets nationwide,” Selig said.