Comment Text:
Dear Chairman and Commissioners,
My name is Quavion Buckley, and I'm just a regular citizen from Washington state writing to share my thoughts on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prediction Markets, as published in 91 FR 12516. I've used prediction markets a few times, and I strongly believe they should be regulated in a fair way that allows people like me to keep participating legally.
I support prediction markets because they give us information that's hard to find anywhere else. I've noticed that the forecasts on these platforms are often way more accurate than what I hear from polls or TV pundits. For example, during the last election cycle, I checked a prediction market to get a sense of the outcomes, and it was closer to the actual results than anything I saw on the news. That kind of insight isn't just helpful for traders, it's useful for anyone trying to understand what's really going on in the world. If these markets are banned or over-regulated, we lose that clarity, and I think that's a big loss for society.
Another thing that matters to me is the freedom to take part in legal, regulated markets. I'm not some big Wall Street investor, just a regular person who wants a fair shot at participating. Prediction markets level the playing field a bit, letting everyday folks like me have access to the same kind of financial tools and information that big institutions use. If only the big players are allowed in, all the good data stays with them, and that's not right. I also don't see this as gambling. It takes research and real-world judgment, just like investing in stocks. Calling it gaming doesn't make sense to me.
I'm aware there are concerns about things like insider trading or market manipulation, and I get that those are real issues. But the CFTC already has laws and tools to deal with bad actors. Banning or heavily restricting prediction markets to stop a few cheaters feels like punishing everyone else for something we didn't do. It's like closing down a whole highway because a few people speed. Use the rules you have to catch the wrongdoers, but don't shut out the rest of us.
I also want to touch on a couple of the questions in your notice, specifically from the Public Interest section, like Question 7 about balancing innovation and consumer protection. I think you can protect consumers by setting clear rules for these markets, not by blocking them altogether. And for Question 11 on price discovery, I believe these markets do provide unique value in figuring out what's likely to happen, more so than other sources.
In the end, I'm asking you to support proportionate regulation of prediction markets. Don't ban them or make the rules so tight that regular people can't participate. Keep them legal and safe, and let us have access to this valuable tool.
Sincerely,
Quavion Buckley
