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CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets?
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September 28, 2026
CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets?
By: John Mikuta
In a new no-action letter, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently opened the door for software developers building software to facilitate trading in derivatives and futures. The CFTC’s Market Participants Division (“MPD”) issued a no-action position providing that it would not recommend bringing an enforcement action against a “passive software provider,” or “PSP”, for failing to register as an introducing broker (“IB”) or associated person of an IB under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).[1] As background, the CEA requires any person who, for compensation or profit, “is engaged in soliciting and in accepting orders” for futures and swaps to register as an IB.[2] Individuals performing that work for an IB must also register themselves as associated persons.[3] The CFTC…
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
September 23, 2026
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
By: John Mikuta
Prediction markets are no longer a niche offering confined to a small corner of the internet. The rapid growth of prediction markets has launched them into the mainstream as a meaningful part of the financial ecosystem. But with that growth comes many of the same market integrity and compliance challenges that more traditional financial markets have long encountered. Prediction markets have faced public scrutiny over…
High Wire Act
September 22, 2026
High Wire Act
By: James Trusty
The federal statute known as the Wire Act (18 U.S.C. § 1084) has had a tumultuous history. For many years, the DOJ interpreted it to include restrictions on both sporting events and non-sporting contests. That changed dramatically in 2011, when the Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”), responding to states seeking clarification before establishing state lotteries, published an analysis of the Wire Act. After a thorough…
Ifrah Law at NFT.NYC: Web3 Gaming’s Growing Pains and Maturity
April 26, 2023
Ifrah Law at NFT.NYC: Web3 Gaming’s Growing Pains and Maturity
By: Jake Gray
From April 12th to April 14th, NFT.NYC held its fourth inaugural event since its launch in 2019, boasting more than 1,500 speakers across seven different categories and a featured section. Moving from an array of venues spread throughout Times Square to a centralized location North Javits, Hudson Yards, the event was significantly less well attended than the previous year. Official attendance numbers have not been…
Ifrah Law on Web3: Web3.0’s Solutions
April 19, 2023
Ifrah Law on Web3: Web3.0’s Solutions
By: Jake Gray
At issue in Web2.0 was the centralization of web platforms and protocols under a user-independent authority, and therefore users’ inability to meaningfully exert control over their web experience, interactions, and data. While such a dynamic provided significant benefits in making the web accessible to a much wider population by lowering the technical barrier to entry, a concomitant effect was that large technology companies retained much…
Ifrah Law on Web3: Origins of the Web
April 17, 2023
Ifrah Law on Web3: Origins of the Web
By: Jake Gray
In parts (1) and (2) of this series, we’ll cover the basics of the Web and aspects of its technical history up to the present, and then discuss how Web3 technologists are trying to revolutionize the Web in its current iteration by solving its characteristic problems, respectively. In the following parts, (3) and (4), we’ll survey a popular Web3 sub-industry—gaming—and learn more about an entity…
Critical Crypto-Securities Issue May Soon Come to a Head in SEC v. Ripple
February 8, 2023
Critical Crypto-Securities Issue May Soon Come to a Head in SEC v. Ripple
By: Jacob Grubman
This work was originally published in Business Law Today for the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section. A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple Labs”), creator of the popular cryptocurrency token known as XRP, represents a turning point for the cryptocurrency and wider blockchain-technology industries in their relationship with regulators. As a significant part of the SEC’s…
How Regulated Sportsbooks Can Ensure Sports Integrity: A Case Study from the Recent UFC Scandal
January 2, 2023
How Regulated Sportsbooks Can Ensure Sports Integrity: A Case Study from the Recent UFC Scandal
By: Jake Gray
In the four years since the Supreme Court struck down the federal law prohibiting state-regulated sports betting in Murphy v. NCAA (2018), more than 30 states have legalized and are regulating sports betting in some capacity. Indeed, since the ruling, the nascent US sports betting industry enjoys rapid growth, especially in states where retail, mobile, and online betting platforms are permitted for consumers. For example,…
