Comment on CFTC-2026-0331, CFTC-2026-0331-0001, James, Festante
James FestanteSupportAdvocacy
Summary: Jim Festante, Executive Director of Health-e-Habits, supports the CFTC's proposed rulemaking on prediction markets. He argues that without regulation, these markets risk becoming predatory "digital casinos" that exploit users through gamified mechanics.
To the Commodity Futures Trading Commission:
I'm writing to express my strong support for the Commission s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding event contracts on prediction markets.
Through my work studying the attention economy and digital environments, I've tracked the dangerous gamblification of our digital spaces. We're increasingly seeing platforms merge news, civic events, and social interaction with casino-like mechanics and variable-ratio reward schedules.
Without clear, robust regulatory boundaries, prediction markets risk operating less as innovative financial tools and more as predatory compulsion loops. Left unchecked, they easily become digital casinos that extract attention and capital from vulnerable users under the guise of gamified news.
I applaud Chairman Selig and the Commission for taking this necessary step to define what genuinely constitutes the public interest. Responsible innovation shouldn't come at the cost of public exploitation. The CFTC's assertion of exclusive jurisdiction here is a vital move to protect consumers from these engineered digital environments.
Thank you for your leadership and proactive approach to this issue.
Best regards,
Jim Festante
Executive Director, Health-e-Habits
www.health-e-habits.org