Gemini Joins Coinbase To Urge CFTC To Withdraw Event Contracts Proposal

• Gemini urges the CFTC to withdraw their allegedly vague proposal for event contracts.
• The Winklevoss twins criticized the CFTC’s ban on crypto prediction markets.
• Tyler Winklevoss said US citizens should not be denied access to prediction platforms like Polymarket.

Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, together known as Winklevoss twins, have recently urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to withdraw their allegedly vague event contracts proposal. With the Winklevoss twins’ move, their crypto exchange Gemini has joined Coinbase to fight against CFTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in May 2024.

In an X post on August 10, Tyler Winklevoss highlighted the consequences of CFTC’s proposed rules on event contracts. As per his post, the rules are designed to ban all event contracts in the United States, significantly impacting leading prediction markets like Polymarket. He added that US citizens should not be denied the opportunity to explore the prediction markets.

Cameron Winklevoss also shared a thread, sharing insights on Gemini’s letter that addressed the negative implications of CFTC’s proposal. Pinpointing the notion of transparency, Cameron elaborated on the importance of crypto prediction platforms like Polymarket in the ecosystem.

Recently, Coinbase, one of the leading blockchain platforms, has raised its voice against CFTC’s ban on even contracts, citing concerns about multiple aspects. While Coinbase slammed CFTC’s definition of “gaming,” it argued that classifying contracts as “category” is not in the public interest. In addition, Coinbase questioned the commission’s statutory authority to ban the prediction markets.

Reflecting on Coinbase’s stance, Cameron criticized CFTC’s ban on the market, pointing out its recent growth and promise of “greater access, liquidity, and aggregation of the wisdom of the crowd.” The X post read,

There is nothing thoughtful about a blanket ban on markets that have been employed for decades in one form or another and have proven extremely reliable tools for forecasting future events.

While urging the regulators to reconsider their decision, Cameron reminded them that even if the CFTC moves forward, the court would object to it. To reinforce his point, Cameron cited the Supreme Court ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, where the judge confirmed that “regulatory agencies cannot expand their power through rulemaking.”