Crypto.com and Robinhood Take High-Stakes Prediction Market Dispute to Supreme Court

Crypto.com and Robinhood Markets have asked the US Supreme Court to settle who gets to police sports prediction markets. The companies filed petitions that argue a 1936 federal commodities law bars state regulators from touching sports event contracts.

The petitions, reported on September 15, 2026, ask the Court to rule that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state regulation of the contracts, which pay out on the outcome of sporting events and are traded on prediction market platforms. The companies want authority centralised with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator of prediction markets.

A fight over who holds the leash is underway, with regulators in Tennessee and Michigan already moving against operators. Robinhood recently pulled its sports event contracts from Michigan while court cases run their course. The stakes are high, with a straightforward constitutional question at play: does federal law give one regulator exclusive control of a fast-growing wagering product?

The companies' argument rests on the CEA's definition of a 'swap', which they say is broad enough to cover contracts that depend on whether a sporting event occurs. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission itself says the Act establishes the statutory framework under which it operates.