President Trump pressed Congress to advance the Clarity Act during a White House meeting focused on crypto regulation, while prediction market companies were notably left out despite earlier expectations of their participation
President Donald Trump called on Congress to move forward with the Clarity Act during a White House meeting with cryptocurrency and financial-industry leaders, signaling a renewed push for a permanent federal framework for digital assets. The meeting, held in Washington, D.C., focused exclusively on cryptocurrency regulation and did not include representatives from the prediction market sector, despite earlier indications that event-contract platforms might participate.
White House Meeting Focuses on Crypto
The White House gathering brought together major figures from the cryptocurrency and financial industries, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher. Also present were SEC Chair Paul Atkins, CFTC Chair Michael Selig, and White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt. Trump used the occasion to urge Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act, a bill designed to clarify the regulatory boundaries between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding digital assets.
Prediction Markets Left Out
Despite initial reports that prediction market companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket might attend, the administration ultimately excluded these platforms from the meeting. According to a person familiar with the event, the White House chose to keep the agenda focused on cryptocurrency rather than event contracts or prediction markets. This decision comes at a time when prediction market operators are seeking to establish event contracts as a distinct category of financial product, facing ongoing regulatory scrutiny from both federal and state authorities.
Regulatory Context and Industry Impact
The timing of the White House meeting is notable, as it occurred just before the CFTC’s inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee session, where broader issues around emerging financial technologies—including prediction markets—are expected to be discussed. The Clarity Act, if enacted, would create statutory definitions for digital assets and clarify which agency has jurisdiction over specific products. While the SEC recently proposed a new crypto framework to ease token issuance under certain exemptions, comprehensive legislation remains stalled in the Senate. For prediction market operators, the distinction between crypto regulation and event contract oversight is increasingly significant, as they navigate whether their products fall under federal commodities regulation or state gambling laws.
Although President Trump has previously expressed support for prediction markets and the CFTC’s authority over them, the exclusion of these platforms from the White House meeting highlights the ongoing regulatory uncertainty facing the sector. The decision underscores that, despite overlapping technology and policy debates, prediction markets remain a separate and unresolved issue within the broader U.S. financial regulatory landscape.
To understand the significance of this development, it is important to distinguish between cryptocurrencies and event contracts. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that may be regulated as securities or commodities, depending on their structure and use. Event contracts—offered by prediction markets—are financial products that allow users to trade on the outcome of future events, such as elections or sports results. The regulatory treatment of these contracts depends on whether they are classified as derivatives under federal law or as gambling under state law, a distinction that continues to shape the future of both industries.
