White House plans Aug. 19 crypto and prediction-market meeting

According to Blockhead, the White House is planning to host crypto and prediction-market executives on Aug. 19. The attendee list and agenda are still not finalized, it is unclear whether President Trump will join, and the White House has neither confirmed nor denied the meeting. Executives from traditional finance firms may also attend.

The gathering would come one day before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission opens the inaugural session of its Innovation Advisory Committee on Aug. 20. On Aug. 13, the CFTC released an agenda for the four-hour meeting, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern, will be streamed on CFTC.gov and will accept public comments through Aug. 27.

The committee will discuss crypto assets, artificial intelligence and prediction markets. Its prediction-markets session will examine the growth of event contracts, the division of authority between federal and state regulators, and recent litigation and enforcement actions. Chairman Michael Selig said he looked forward to meeting with the committee’s entrepreneurs, thinkers and builders as emerging technologies and financial products reshape markets.

That backdrop is already playing out in court. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council sued Kalshi and Polymarket on Thursday, saying the platforms offered sports contracts, including moneylines, point spreads and player-performance markets, without the licences Maryland requires for sports betting. New York sued Kalshi on July 31 seeking to shut down its operations in the state and recover profits, and Kentucky’s attorney general filed against both companies in June.

Industry trackers count roughly a dozen states now in active legal conflict with Kalshi and Polymarket through lawsuits or cease-and-desist orders. Polymarket, which acquired the CFTC-licensed QCX LLC for $112 million in 2025 and relaunched domestically as a designated contract market in December, has still faced direct suits from cities and states over sports-related contracts.

The broader legislative fight over the CLARITY Act also remains unsettled. The House passed its version 294-134 in July 2025, with 78 Democrats voting yes, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced its version 15-9 in May, but no floor vote has been held. The proposal would divide oversight between the CFTC and the SEC, putting digital commodity spot markets under the CFTC and securities under the SEC. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before the recess that lawmakers did not have enough time to finish debate and amendments, and the Senate is scheduled to return on Sept. 14.

On Aug. 14, Polymarket traders priced the chance of the bill becoming law in 2026 at 21%, up from 17% the day before, on about $7 million in volume. The source notes that those prices are traders’ implied probabilities, not an official forecast.