Daily Brief: Trump Names SEC and CFTC Slate as Perps and Prediction Markets Face Legal Battles

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Trump nominates bipartisan slate to fill depleted SEC and CFTC vacancies

Four nominees, including Nathan Anonick and Kristin Johnson, head to a brief lame-duck Senate session to establish agency quorums following the Clarity Act's collapse.

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CFTC defends equity perpetual futures against Cboe and Citadel lawsuit

A federal judge declined an emergency freeze on stock perpetuals, but warned the CFTC likely exceeded its authority when approving the instruments on Nov. 3.

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DOJ and CFTC sue Arkansas to block enforcement against Kalshi

Federal authorities filed suit on Nov. 12, arguing the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Arkansas from prosecuting sports event contracts under state gambling statutes.

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House Oversight Committee proposes statutory prediction market trading ban

A bipartisan memorandum published on Nov. 13 recommended formal legislation barring federal personnel from participating in prediction market contracts.

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Metaplanet posts $170M net loss following 10,000 BTC treasury trade

The firm recorded a $119.8 million trading loss after offloading 10,000 $BTC to test creditor liquidity ahead of its Nov. 30 removal from MSCI indexes.

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Nakamoto postpones $60M Kraken facility maturity to 2027

The Bitcoin treasury company extended 60 million $USDT in debt to December 2027 and pledged active derivatives holdings as credit collateral.

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Arca CIO challenges Vitalik Buterin over Ethereum valuation model

Jeff Dorman pegged Ethereum's fundamental fee-backed value at $45 billion to $50 billion, arguing hosted applications should face network taxes.

The numbers

Bitcoin traded at $67,230, down 3.0%, while Ether fell 2.3% to $1,907, with market sentiment at Extreme Fear with an index reading of 13.

What to watch

• Senate Agriculture and Banking committee confirmation hearings for SEC and CFTC nominees before the January congressional transition.
• Judge Valerie Caproni's decision on the preliminary injunction against equity perpetual futures and the SEC's listing rule review.
• MSCI benchmark rebalancing execution removing Metaplanet, Strategy, and Upexi at the market close on Nov. 30.

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