Prediction Markets and Event Contracts Lawyer

De Silva Law Offices represents designated contract market applicants, commodity trading advisors, commodity pool operators, introducing brokers, and other market participants in regulatory matters involving prediction markets and event contracts. The firm's practice covers the full lifecycle of event contract regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act, from DCM registration and contract listing under part 40 through compliance, enforcement defense, and participation in CFTC rulemaking.

What We Do

The firm advises clients on the regulatory classification of event contracts as swaps or futures under CEA section 1a(47), the listing and self-certification process under Regulations 40.2 and 40.3, compliance with DCM Core Principles, the public interest determination under CEA section 5c(c)(5)(C), and the application of state gambling and gaming laws to federally regulated prediction market platforms. The firm also advises on insider trading and market manipulation exposure under CEA section 6(c)(1) and Regulation 180.1, an area of rapidly developing enforcement activity in the prediction markets space.

 For entities seeking to operate prediction markets, the firm provides regulatory counsel on DCM and SEF registration applications, compliance program design, surveillance obligations, and the interaction between federal derivatives regulation and state law. For existing market participants, the firm advises on position reporting, trading conduct, and enforcement risk, including in connection with event contracts referencing political, corporate, and geopolitical events.

Credentials in This Space

The firm has published more than a dozen articles on prediction markets and event contracts, covering the CFTC's regulatory framework, the CLARITY Act, federal preemption of state gambling laws, insider trading on prediction market platforms, and the application of the SRO surveillance model to event contracts under individual control.

The firm's managing attorney has published expert analysis in Law360 on the CFTC's amicus brief in North American Derivatives Exchange Inc. v. Nevada before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and on the structural insider trading and surveillance problems in futures markets tied to government announcements. The firm's managing attorney previously served as a floor trader at a major United States futures exchange, bringing direct operational experience in derivatives market structure to the firm's regulatory practice.

On April 29, 2026, the firm filed a comment letter with the CFTC in response to the Commission's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prediction Markets (RIN 3038-AF65), proposing a tiered regulatory framework for event contracts under individual control that addresses insider trading, position disclosure, and the structural limitations of exchange-level self-regulatory surveillance.

Who We Represent

The firm represents clients across the prediction markets ecosystem, including:

• Entities applying for or holding DCM or SEF registration with the CFTC who list or intend to list event contracts for trading.
• Commodity trading advisors and commodity pool operators whose strategies involve event contract positions.
• Introducing brokers facilitating customer access to prediction market platforms.
• Technology and compliance service providers to prediction market operators.
• Market participants facing CFTC enforcement inquiries or investigations involving event contract trading.
• Entities navigating the intersection of federal CFTC jurisdiction and state gambling or gaming regulation.

Contact 

If you are operating in or entering the prediction markets space and need regulatory counsel, contact R Tamara de Silva at tamara@desilvalawoffices.com or (312) 500-8424.