CFTC officials suspended after questioning crypto firms with Trump ties

Senior officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who raised concerns about three cryptocurrency and prediction market platforms were suspended, placed under internal investigation, and ultimately removed from their positions, according to a detailed investigation that drew on agency records and interviews with more than 30 current and former staff.

The platforms at the center of the report are Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Gemini Titan, an affiliate of the Gemini exchange. Each has direct financial ties to members of the Trump family. Polymarket received investment from 1789 Capital, a venture firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. Crypto.com is a business partner of Trump Media, with which it launched a prediction platform on Truth Social. The founders of Gemini provide financial backing to American Bitcoin, a venture cofounded by Eric Trump.

Career CFTC staff raised specific concerns about each company. They flagged that Crypto.com was not treating small bettors fairly, that Polymarket lacked adequate fraud protections, and that Gemini Titan had not completed the required regulatory review before beginning operations.

Then acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham and her senior...