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North Carolina backs CFTC oversight for prediction markets
The law signed July 7 taxes Kalshi and Polymarket at 6% of North Carolina-attributable net trading fees, versus 23% on sports betting operators.
North Carolina has passed a budget provision that recognizes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as having exclusive federal regulatory authority over prediction markets, including platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, Decrypt reports.
Governor Josh Stein signed the measure into the 2026 budget on July 7 as Senate Bill 257, and the statute states that CFTC-registered prediction markets may operate lawfully in the state under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Instead of creating state licensing or regulatory requirements, the law imposes a 6% tax on operators' North Carolina-attributable net trading fee revenue starting January 1, 2027.
The approach is notably lighter than North Carolina's treatment of sports betting, where the state raised the tax on operators from 18% to 23% of gross wagering revenue, and it comes amid a broader legal split as more than a dozen states have tried to regulate prediction markets as gambling, with litigation challenging those moves.