Case: 25-7187, 03/10/2026, DktEntry: 75.1, Page 21 of 43
court below correctly held sports bets are not swaps for precisely this reason. ER- 24–25. Moreover, there is no “financial, commercial, or economic consequence” 5 associated with Crypto.com’s sports-betting contracts. Aside from whether the purchaser wins or loses their bet, Crypto.com’s sports-betting contracts have no direct financial consequences for the purchaser. To constitute a swap, the district court properly held that the underlying event itself “must be inherently associated with a potential financial consequence.” See Order Granting Motion to Dissolve Prelim. Inj. at 14, KalshiEX, LLC v. Hendrick , No. 2:25-cv-00575 (D. Nev. Nov. 24, 2025), Dkt. No. 237. “[E]xternalities like whether people bet on the event or 5 In its amicus brief, the CFTC argues that sports-betting contracts have sufficient “financial, commercial or economic consequences” because “sporting events … generate billions of dollars in economic activity and materially affect both regional and national markets.” CFTC Amicus Br. at 19, Dkt. No. 37.2. The CFTC therefore asserts there is no need to “engage in line drawing” over what distinguishes a swap from a sports bet. Id. at 19–20. However, the CFTC fails to articulate how wagers on particular aspects of sporting events, which are typical wagering subjects appearing on Crypto.com’s platform, have any quantifiable impact on the economy. For example, the CFTC does not explain how a wager on whether the Wizards will beat the Celtics by more than 3.5 points has any downstream economic impact, let alone a sufficient “financial, commercial or economic consequence,” except to that on the person placing the wager. See Sports Event Trading , Crypto.com, https://help.crypto.com/en/articles/10208780- sports-event-trading (last visited Mar. 9, 2026) (explaining that users can bet on point spreads).
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