United States: Commodities/Derivatives/Stock Exchanges

The CFTC has initiated a comprehensive regulatory review of 24/7 trading and clearing for derivatives markets, issuing staff guidance, requesting public comment, and staying certain product launches. Market participants including exchanges, clearinghouses, and intermediaries face new operational, risk management, and compliance considerations as continuous trading models challenge traditional settlement windows and segregation requirements. The Commission's approach emphasizes that different asset classes m

This comprehensive regulatory update examines recent CFTC enforcement actions, new margin rules for uncleared swaps, and the evolving landscape of perpetual futures contracts and prediction markets. The analysis covers critical developments including commodity pool fraud cases, exchange disciplinary actions, and emerging compliance challenges as 24/7 trading expands across traditional and digital asset markets.

Sports event contracts have exploded in popularity since December 2024, when the first prediction market began offering contracts on whether the Chiefs or Eagles would win the Super Bowl. Today, prediction markets offer event contracts on everything from the World Cup to baseball, and even niche sports like chess and cricket.

Last Spring, we provided an overview of the Texas Stock Exchange. One year later, the Exchange has clearly moved from concept to reality, following its June 27, 2026 Final Confidence Test and the launch of phased trading in July. The key question now is whether the Exchange can scale smoothly, attract listings, and build meaningful liquidity as it expands through 2026 and into 2027.

The U.S. and UK have released groundbreaking recommendations for cross-border digital asset cooperation, while major financial institutions successfully execute tokenized asset trades in production environments. Meanwhile, regulatory bodies worldwide advance frameworks for digital currencies and on-chain derivatives markets, signaling a coordinated push toward mainstream adoption of blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Recent enforcement activity across U.S. and international authorities reflects a continued focus on fraud and unregistered activity in the crypto sector. In April 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated a compensation process for victims of the OneCoin scheme, which defrauded investors of more than $4 billion, and announced coordinated actions through its Scam Center Strike Force targeting Southeast Asian fraud operations.

Federal prosecutors and regulators have launched unprecedented enforcement actions against prediction market users, alleging insider trading and commodities fraud violations.

The CFTC has proposed comprehensive amendments to regulate event contracts on prediction markets, raising critical questions about where to draw the line between legitimate economic activity and activity contrary to the public interest.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the CFTC or Commission) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on June 10, 2026...