Lawmakers concerned about 24/7 trading, prediction markets

Members of the House Agriculture Committee told Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig on Thursday that they are concerned that commodity trading 24 hours a day seven days a week “could force producers into round-the-clock risk management, increase margin pressure, and potentially destabilize farm finances if applied broadly to agricultural markets,” DTN/Progressive Farmer reported after the hearing. 

Selig “made clear the agency is not approaching 24/7 trading as a universal shift across all markets, emphasizing that agricultural contracts may require a different framework than financial or digital assets,” DTN said. 

“24/7 is not one size fits all, so we need to be very careful as we’re evaluating where 24/7 is appropriate in different products and markets,” Selig said.

The hearing took place a day after the prediction firm Kalshi announced it would open 24/7 trading on a group of commodities — natural gas, coffee, copper, sugar, corn, soybeans, wheat, nickel, diesel and lithium.

“We’re also seeing interest and concern around new types of derivative instruments, whether it’s prediction markets or perpetuals,” Selig said. “We’re certainly listening to all these voices and making sure we’re addressing these concerns.”

Kalshi, a web-based prediction market platform, has published its rules on commodity contracts, and the CFTC is seeking comments by April 30 on proposed rulemaking on prediction markets.