Today in crypto: Coinbase sued three US states to shield its planned prediction markets, the US Senate confirmed pro-crypto leaders for the CFTC and FDIC, and Bitcoin advocates warned that a US proposed de minimis tax relief may apply only to stablecoin transactions.
Coinbase borrows Kalshi’s playbook, sues three states over prediction markets
Coinbase is taking three US states to court in a bid to lock in federal protection for its planned prediction markets, opening a new front in the battle over whether event contracts are finance or gambling.
The exchange has sued regulators in Connecticut, Illinois and Michigan, asking federal judges to declare that prediction markets listed on a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated platform fall under the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC’s claimed exclusive jurisdiction, not 50 separate state gambling codes.
In a Friday X post, chief legal officer Paul Grewal said Coinbase filed the cases “to confirm what is clear: prediction markets fall squarely under the jurisdiction of the @CFTC, not any individual state gaming regulator (let alone 50).”
Coinbase frames the dispute as both a legal and structural question. Court filings argue that if each state can independently decide whether federally supervised prediction markets are illegal gambling, the most restrictive regime would effectively become the national standard, “turning our system of federalism upside down.”
Senate confirms Selig for CFTC, Hill for FDIC
The US Senate has confirmed crypto-friendly lawyer Mike Selig as the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has elevated Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) in a 53-43 vote on Thursday.
The pair were confirmed in a package of nearly 100 other nominees that the Trump administration had picked for various roles across the government.
The CFTC could soon receive more crypto authority with bills working their way through Congress, and the FDIC is poised to regulate some stablecoin issuers.
Selig’s term will expire in April 2029 once sworn in. He pledged to make crypto a priority when he was nominated in October after he was picked to take over from the previous nominee, Brian Quintenz.
Hill has already been running the FDIC as the acting chairman and has also shared a friendly crypto stance, speaking at Congressional hearings about the alleged debanking of companies due to crypto ties.
Bitcoin Policy Institute sounds alarm on de minimis tax exclusion
Representatives of the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a nonprofit Bitcoin advocacy organization, warned that US lawmakers have not included a de minimis tax exemption for Bitcoin transactions below a certain threshold.
“De Minimis tax legislation may be limited to only stablecoins, leaving everyday Bitcoin transactions without an exemption,” Conner Brown, BPI’s head of strategy, said on X, adding that the decision to exclude Bitcoin is a “severe mistake.”
In July, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill proposing a de minimis tax exemption for crypto transactions of $300 or less, with a $5,000 annual limit on tax-free transactions and sales.
The bill proposal also included tax exemptions for digital assets used for charitable donations and tax deferment for crypto earned through mining proof-of-work (PoW) protocols or staking to secure blockchain networks.
Allowing a tax exemption for small Bitcoin transactions would increase its use as a medium of exchange rather than just as a store of value asset, allowing a new financial system built on a Bitcoin standard, BTC advocates say.
cointelegraph.com