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Congress and the federal financial regulators cranked the crypto policy machinery into a higher gear last week: the House Ways and Means Committee held a substantive hearing on digital-asset tax legislation, the CFTC published a proposal for tighter oversight of prediction markets, former SEC and CFTC chair Gary Gensler filed an amicus brief arguing that "swaps" under Dodd-Frank were never meant to cover sports-betting-style contracts, and a Second Circuit panel rejected Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal of his 2023 fraud and conspiracy conviction, finding that District Judge Lewis Kaplan did not overreach in how he ran the trial.
Why it matters
The Ways and Means hearing stood out for what didn't happen: no partisan sniping, no rhetorical shots at President Donald Trump, and only a handful of lawmakers questioning whether crypto taxes deserve urgency given the current economic backdrop. Members largely asked technical questions about discussion-draft bills covering how digital assets should be taxed, where current policy has gaps, and how a future markup might bridge bipartisan sticking points. The conciliatory tone reads as a signal that crypto tax legislation is now positioned as the next major policy item after the market-structure bill — assuming that bill clears.
On the prediction-market front, the CFTC's new proposal lays out how the agency plans to define gaming for swap-classification purposes, a definitional fight that will determine which prediction contracts get federal oversight and which get pushed to state gaming regulators. Gensler's amicus brief — filed alongside other entities and states — pushes the opposite direction, arguing that "swaps" was never intended to capture anything resembling sports betting. The CFTC simultaneously filed a new lawsuit against New Mexico arguing that sports-related prediction markets are swaps that fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
Frequently asked questions
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What happened at the House Ways and Means Committee crypto tax hearing?
Last Tuesday's hearing saw lawmakers ask largely substantive, technical questions on discussion-draft digital-asset tax bills. The tone was notably conciliatory — no partisan sniping — and the session is positioned as the next major policy item after the market-structure bill.
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What did the CFTC propose for prediction markets?
The CFTC published a proposal laying out how it would define gaming for the purposes of swap classification. The definitional choice determines which prediction-market contracts get federal oversight and which fall to state gaming regulators. Public comment is now open.
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What did Gary Gensler's amicus brief argue?
Filed alongside other entities and states, the brief argued that the term "swaps" under Dodd-Frank was never meant to include anything that resembles sports betting, pushing back against federal classification of sports-style prediction markets as swaps.
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Why is the CFTC suing New Mexico over prediction markets?
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against New Mexico on Friday arguing that sports-related prediction markets are swaps and should be governed by federal regulators, not state gaming authorities — a direct test of the jurisdictional perimeter.
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What happened with Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal?
A Second Circuit panel rejected Bankman-Fried's appeal of his 2023 fraud and conspiracy conviction, finding that District Judge Lewis Kaplan did not overreach his role or make mistakes overseeing the criminal trial. No grounds for reversal were sustained.
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