Comment Text:
To who it may concern,
I disagree with the proposed rulemaking concerning event contracts in certain commodities.
Over the course of the last 8 years, I have involved myself briefly with the online marketplaces that allow me to take a predicted outcome and give it a monetary representation. It is not my opinion at all that these marketplaces are gaming. Nor are they similar to the predatory sports gaming markets.
It is my firm belief that the market for predictive investments in general, and PredictIt in particular, have been a net benefit to the world.
The differences between the markets of gaming and futures are different in one critical way; luck. A soybean future is about as unknown as a Presidential election, or a congressional majority. The future is not determined entirely by luck, however. It's determined by soil quality, agricultural conditions, and quantifiable metrics. Just as a congressional election is not determined primarily by luck, but by popularity. A metric which can indeed be quantified and changed.
If there are to be some more controls on the market to prevent predatory expansion, that'd be one thing. But to shut down websites entirely, or to restrict them to the same strict regulation of the sports betting companies, would be a farcical over reach of federal regulatory mandate. Status quo should be maintained during further discussion of a far lighter touch.
Thank you for the time and consideration.
Jacob Fisher
