Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that it has commenced a review of contracts self-certified by KalshiEX, LLC (Kalshi) on which political party will be in control of each chamber of the U.S. Congress, under CFTC Regulation 40.11(c). Kalshi, a designated contract market, submitted the contracts to the CFTC following the close of business on June 12, 2023. The CFTC has 90 days subsequent to the date that it commences review, or if applicable, until the conclusion of such extended period agreed to or requested by Kalshi, to make a determination with respect to the contracts.

As described in Kalshi’s submission, the contracts are cash-settled, binary contracts based on the question: “Will <chamber of Congress> be controlled by <party> for <term>?” The contracts settle based on the party affiliation of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives or the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate. The CFTC has determined the contracts may involve, relate to, or reference an activity enumerated in CFTC Regulation 40.11(a) and section 5c(c)(5)(C) of the Commodity Exchange Act and has therefore commenced a review pursuant to CFTC Regulation 40.11(c).

As required under CFTC Regulation 40.11(c)(1), the CFTC has requested that Kalshi refrain from listing or trading the contracts during the CFTC’s review period.

The CFTC seeks public comment on specific questions related to Kalshi’s self-certified congressional control contracts during a 30-day public comment period. The questions are available here. The public comment period ends on July 24, 2023.

Kalshi’s publicly-filed submission, which provides detailed information about the contracts, is available here.