Case 2:25-cv-00978-APG-BNW Document 105 Filed 10/14/25 Page 6 of 27
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Crypto is a CFTC-registered DCM. ECF No. 15-2 at 3. On January 30, 2025, Crypto self-certified to the CFTC that it would start offering event contracts based on “live presentation industry events.” ECF No. 15-3 at 2-3. Crypto described the event contracts as swaps. Id. at 2, 5. According to Crypto’s self-certification, live presentation industry events “not only have an outcome that determines a leader, an achievement, an accomplishment, a champion, a title holder or a winner of a particular live presentation industry event, but more importantly the outcome of a live presentation industry event has a substantial economic and commercial impact on business and individuals . . . .” Id. at 3, 5. The term “industry event” refers to events in the performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries. Id. at 5. Crypto advised the CFTC that certain persons were prohibited from trading these event contracts, including the players, coaches, agents, staff, employees, management, and owners, as well as these persons’ immediate family and household members. Id. at 6. Crypto identified various financial impacts of live industry events, including advertising, ticket and food sales, employment related to the event, ancillary impacts such as hotel rentals and taxi rides, and tax implications. Id. at 8-9. Crypto asserted that the event contracts are “designed to manage the risk of a variety of market participants, whose business face economic consequences based on the outcome of a respective Industry Event, and to enable price discovery for related commercial enterprises.” Id. at 9. The CFTC thus far appears not to have acted against Crypto or other DCMs who have offered similar event contracts that are based on the outcome of sporting events. Instead, various state entities, like the Nevada Gaming Control Board (Board), have attempted to regulate Crypto and other DCMs who are offering sports-based event contracts. That led Crypto and other DCMs to file suits seeking injunctions against state regulation based on the argument that
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