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CFTC’s New AI Playbook: Industry Titans Push for ‘Compute’ Derivatives, Seek Clarity, Warn Against Over-Regulation

CFTC’s New AI Playbook: Industry Titans Push for ‘Compute’ Derivatives, Seek Clarity, Warn Against Over-Regulation

by | Aug 28, 2026

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) — August 28, 2026:  In a setting worlds away from the litigation-heavy atmosphere of the previous administration, industry leaders and regulators gathered at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission headquarters last week, signaling a sharp pivot in how Washington intends to govern the coming “AI supercycle.”

During the inaugural meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC), moderated by FIA Chairman and CEO Walt Lukken, a former CFTC acting chairman, the discussion shifted from the defensive, victim mentality and persecution posturing that defined recent years to a proactive policy dialogue buoyed by the support of an administration with skin in the game. 

DTCC’s Tom Sullivan: Tokenization Service Aims to Bring Blockchain Speed Without Sacrificing Investor Protections

DTCC’s Tom Sullivan: Tokenization Service Aims to Bring Blockchain Speed Without Sacrificing Investor Protections

by | Aug 28, 2026

After a landmark July 15th trial testing near-real-time settlement, collateral mobility and multi-chain interoperability, DTCC’s Thomas Sullivan tells John Lothian News how the clearing giant plans to fuse traditional securities infrastructure with blockchain rails ahead of a full production launch later this year.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) — August 28, 2026: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which has spent five decades building the plumbing that keeps US securities markets settling smoothly, is betting that blockchain technology can keep assets moving efficiently as trading speeds up and demand grows for round-the-clock liquidity.

Welcome to the Beltway Bucket Shop: “Fake News,” Floral Mishaps, and Prediction Market Fireworks

Welcome to the Beltway Bucket Shop: “Fake News,” Floral Mishaps, and Prediction Market Fireworks

by | Aug 21, 2026

From 2,500 unchallenged self-certifications to Michael Selig cutting off the CEO of the world’s largest derivatives exchange, the inaugural CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee meeting was peak political theater.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) — August 21, 2026: Welcome to the wild world of Washington derivatives politics. Yesterday, I reviewed the video of CFTC Chairman Michael Selig kicking off the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee Meeting and the full meeting chaired by FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken. I might need to spin up whole new MarketsWiki categories to track the sheer volume of political theater. How about [[Category:Regulatory Pandering]], or [[Category:Gensler Rent-Free Zone]]? ([[Category:Regulatory Boogie-Man]] might be added too.) 

Tuesday’s Promise at 25: A New Name, an Unbroken Vow to the Families of 9/11 and Their Military Successors

Tuesday’s Promise at 25: A New Name, an Unbroken Vow to the Families of 9/11 and Their Military Successors

by | Aug 19, 2026

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) — August 19, 2026: Some charities mark their 25th anniversary with a gala, a press release, and a slightly nicer version of the same logo. And then there is Tuesday’s Promise, the organization born out of the worst Tuesday morning in American memory, marking its 25th anniversary by doing something much harder. It is making a public, permanent promise to the families it has been walking beside since September 11, 2001, and to a second generation of American families who have paid the price for what happened that day: the survivors of the post‑9/11 military era.

On June 11, 2026, Tuesday’s Children officially became Tuesday’s Promise. The Manhasset‑based nonprofit has spent nearly a quarter of a century providing “support, connection, and hope to individuals and families impacted by traumatic loss,” and its leaders decided, after more than a year of work with staff, board directors, family members, and long‑time supporters, that the name needed to catch up with the mission. Thank you to my friend Silvia Davi for being part of that mission for the last eight years, highlighting the name change and new mission, and mentioning the upcoming 25th anniversary and plans for this year’s gala. 

“Crypto Capital of the World” Is a Great Slogan. Now Try “Justice Capital.”

“Crypto Capital of the World” Is a Great Slogan. Now Try “Justice Capital.”

by | Aug 18, 2026

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) — August 18, 2022: The president and his many cryptophants want America to be the Crypto Capital of the World. On Wednesday, August 19, President Trump will sit down at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House on the White House grounds, along with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, and a lineup of C-suites from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket, Kalshi, a16z, and Paradigm to talk about how to make it happen. Fine by me. The photos will be good (just Photoshop out the sleeping president). The industry is happy. The CFTC’s new Innovation Advisory Committee is gavelled to order the next morning.

DealFlow Follows Wall Street Into Prediction Markets with Predict 2026 Conference

DealFlow Follows Wall Street Into Prediction Markets with Predict 2026 Conference

by | Aug 14, 2026

Steven Dresner sees a fragmented institutional future as DealFlow shifts its information business toward a live, networking-first forum

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) – August 14, 2026: DealFlow Events is bringing its live-event model to prediction markets, with Predict 2026 in New York on October 6 and 7, after watching the market’s traditional financial services gatekeepers move in. For Steven Dresner, the company’s CEO, that was the clearest market structure signal available: major investment banks, large law firms, and the corporate sponsors that support DealFlow’s other programs were forming teams to explore the business.

“We followed the money,” Dresner said in a July interview with John Lothian News. “We are a tools provider on Wall Street, and what I have found to be very helpful in navigating new markets is to just stay in tune with what our clients are doing.”

Correction: CFTC Invokes Emergency Powers Twice in 30 Days in Support of Kalshi, Six Times in Total

Correction: CFTC Invokes Emergency Powers Twice in 30 Days in Support of Kalshi, Six Times in Total

by | Aug 12, 2026

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN), August 12, 2026: A correction is necessary. I wrote that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had never invoked its emergency authority under Section 8a(9) of the Commodity Exchange Act before July 14, 2026. That was wrong.

The CFTC has exercised that authority six times since its creation: four times between 1976 and 1980 and twice during the past 30 days. The accurate and still remarkable point is that the commission allowed its emergency power to remain dormant for 46 years before Chairman Michael Selig revived it twice, both times in support of Kalshi.

Why the CFTC Used Its “Nuclear Option” to Protect Kalshi

Why the CFTC Used Its “Nuclear Option” to Protect Kalshi

by | Aug 12, 2026

CFTC Invokes Emergency Powers Twice in Last 30 Days in Support of Kalshi

Publisher’s Note: A correction to this story was subsequently published reflecting that the CFTC has used its emergency authority a total of six times, including twice recently for Kalshi. Our apologies for the error. 

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) – August 12, 2026: How many times has the CFTC invoked its emergency authority before July 14, 2026? Zero. That’s right, not during the Hunt Brothers’ silver market corner, or during the Maine Potato default, or during 9/11 or the financial crisis, or any other time.

Section 8a(9) of the Commodity Exchange Act is the CFTC’s nuclear option. It allows the commission, upon finding an emergency, to order a registered exchange to take whatever action the CFTC considers necessary to maintain or restore orderly trading. The merits of that emergency determination are generally insulated from judicial review.

And there is the legal strategy of CFTC Chairman Michael Selig: use the nuclear option to assert CFTC preemption over the states, avoiding any ambiguity about conflicting Federal court decisions on the CFTC’s authority, which I wrote about yesterday. 

The Chairman’s Op-Ed Skips the Parts He’d Have to Litigate: Markets Price Uncertainty. Selig’s Essay Ignores.

The Chairman’s Op-Ed Skips the Parts He’d Have to Litigate: Markets Price Uncertainty. Selig’s Essay Ignores.

by | Aug 11, 2026

The CFTC chairman makes a defensible case for innovation but undermines it by editing out unresolved questions.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) — August 11, 2026: CFTC Chairman Michael Selig chose The Economist to publish “The New Era of Finance Needs Innovation More Than Consensus.” That matters because The Economist serves a sophisticated international readership accustomed to ambiguity, competing legal interpretations and the complexities of global markets. Its readers expect contested claims to be identified, evidence to be supported and serious counterarguments to be confronted rather than written out of existence.

An Old Answer to a New Wager

An Old Answer to a New Wager

by | Aug 7, 2026

A 1745 British law against wagering on maritime disasters offers the CFTC a precedent for banning wildfire event contracts.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) — August 7, 2026: Nine Democratic senators, led by California’s Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley, wrote to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig this week demanding that the commission rein in prediction markets offering event contracts on wildfires. Their letter cites more than $1.2 million in bets on Polymarket’s offshore platform surrounding the Palisades and the Eaton fires that killed 31 people in Los Angeles in January 2025, and it relays a blunt warning from state and local fire officials: contracts that pay out on destruction invite someone to supply the destruction.

The History of Single-Stock Futures: From Ban to Revival

The History of Single-Stock Futures: From Ban to Revival

by | Aug 6, 2026

WILLIAMS BAY, WI (JLN) – August 6, 2026: Months ago, I heard that FIA was examining renewed industry interest in reviving single-stock futures, which debuted in the US in 2002 and last traded on OneChicago in 2020. I decided to explore their history in a video project, particularly because 25 years had passed since the Commodity Futures Modernization Act legalized SSFs. The project also traces their earlier prohibition under the 1981 Shad-Johnson Accord and the Futures Trading Act of 1982.

FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken, who helped negotiate the CFMA while serving as a Senate aide, has called single-stock futures his “white whale.” For me, they were more like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster: a much-hyped quarry that never quite materialized.

Trading Technologies Says Its Systems Are Ready for 24/7 Markets

Trading Technologies Says Its Systems Are Ready for 24/7 Markets

by | Aug 5, 2026

TT executives see clearing automation, margin analytics and AI reshaping post-trade operations

LONDON (JLN) – August 5, 2026: Trading Technologies is technologically prepared for the derivatives industry’s shift toward round-the-clock trading, though expanding operational support across weekends will require a more gradual transition, two company executives said.

“Twenty-four-seven is obviously coming,” Maxime Jeanniard du Dot, executive vice president at Trading Technologies, said in an interview at the FIA International Derivatives Expo. TT already supports European power markets that operate on extended schedules, giving the company experience with the technology required for continuous trading, he said.

Ex-NYSE Executive Warns SEC Overhaul Risks Wasting Millions Without Deeper Reforms

Ex-NYSE Executive Warns SEC Overhaul Risks Wasting Millions Without Deeper Reforms

by | Aug 3, 2026

Steven Poser says rescinding Rule 611 will simplify routing but won’t solve modern execution hurdles without updated guidelines for institutional block trades.

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) – August 3, 2026 — Rescinding Wall Street’s long-standing order protection rule will streamline market routing and potentially force a shakeout among hyper-fragmented stock exchanges. Still, it risks becoming an expensive, low-impact administrative exercise unless regulators overhaul how they evaluate institutional executions.

Speaking in an interview with John Lothian News, Steven Poser, former director of research at the New York Stock Exchange and now managing partner at Wall Street Experts LLC, a boutique consulting firm advising on primary listing venue selection, U.S. equity market structure, order type optimization, and expert witness testimony, noted that his transition out of the exchange world gives him the latitude to offer candid market structural critiques.

IG Group keeps trying to predict prediction markets

IG Group keeps trying to predict prediction markets

by | Jul 31, 2026

ELMHURST, IL (JLN) — July 31, 2026: IG Group has been trying to predict the prediction market business for nearly two decades. Its record looks like that of a trader who gets in early, loses conviction, sells, buys back, sells again, and then discovers that the market has gone limit-up without him or her.

Now IG is getting back in, this time with both feet, several licenses and up to $1.3 billion.

The story begins with HedgeStreet, the wonderfully named California exchange founded in 2004 to offer small, easily understood derivatives to retail traders. The products were called “Hedgelets,” which sounds like either a financial instrument or something served with mustard at a British garden party.

John Lothian

John Lothian

Executive Chairman & CEO

JohnLothian@JohnLothian.com MarketsWiki Profile

John J. Lothian is the founder and co-owner of MarketsWiki, MarketsWikiEducation and MarketsReformWiki and the publisher of John Lothian News.