Sleeper Markets LLC, the entity operator of the favored fantasy sports activities app Sleeper, has publicly accused the U.S. Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) of an “unlawful delay” on its software to register as a Futures Fee Service provider (FCM).
This registration is an important regulatory requirement for Sleeper to legally facilitate buyer trades, together with prediction markets tied to sports activities betting and different occasions.
The present Trump regime has been extra receptive to prediction markets, as evidenced by the relaunch of PredictIt in america, with it being a fully-fledged and authorised platform.
As for Sleeper, which has thousands and thousands of customers on its every day fantasy sports activities platform, it desires to broaden into regulated prediction markets throughout sports activities, elections, and even the climate.
To do that, it should register as an FCM with the CFTC and turn into a member of the Nationwide Futures Affiliation (NFA), the self-regulatory physique for the derivatives trade.
FCMs act because the intermediary, dealing with buyer orders, margins, and clearing for futures contracts.
Sleeper submitted its FCM software in early 2025, and after overview in August, it appeared the statutory and regulatory necessities had been met.
CFTC thought in any other case, and workers intervened on the eleventh hour, apparently instructing the NFA to withhold approval pending an extra overview. The explanations for this have been imprecise, with no clear rationalization supplied.
Consequently, Sleeper’s attorneys on the regulation agency, Milbank, issued a scathing letter to the CFTC’s Workplace of the Inspector Basic, citing the delay as a blatant violation of federal regulation.
Get your popcorn out.
Attorneys for the fantasy sports activities app Sleeper wrote a letter to the Workplace of the Inspector Basic calling out the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee for “violating the regulation” in coping with Sleeper’s try to enter prediction markets. pic.twitter.com/LzitfdeCtj
— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) September 15, 2025
Sleeper calls out CFTC for “violating the regulation”
As a part of the letter, titled “Abuse, Mismanagement, and Waste by the CFTC below its Appearing Chairman and Sole Commissioner,” the claims embrace:
The CFTC’s maintain lacks any authorized foundation, because the CEA mandates computerized registration upon NFA approval until there’s proof of health points.
The delay stems from “unspecified considerations” about occasion contracts on unaffiliated Designated Contract Markets (DCMs).
Appearing Chairman and sole Commissioner Kristin Johnson is conscious of or directing the misconduct, probably as a part of broader CFTC efforts to scrutinize prediction markets amid ongoing litigation.
This motion in opposition to Sleeper doesn’t come as an excessive amount of of a shock, given latest strikes from the CFTC in opposition to prediction markets. A few of these have been very aggressive, like when the Fee sued Kalshi over election betting contracts.
The following step on this case will probably be an fascinating one, with the CFTC but to reply publicly.
As beforehand suggests, the Trump administration has been appearing favorably towards the prediction markets, and it reveals that we’re nonetheless a way off from the absence of regulatory bottlenecks proper throughout the sector.
Picture credit score: SleeperMarkets
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