Regulators and banks step up scrutiny of prediction markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is conducting an internal review into "mention markets" on prediction platforms, people familiar with the situation told CNBC Friday. Mention markets are made up of contracts where traders speculate on whether specific words will be used in a speech, a corporate earnings call with analysts and investors or a television broadcast. One of the people familiar with the matter said the CFTC first alerted platform Kalshi of the review several weeks ago. The platform removed sports-related mention markets around the same time the CFTC — the federal regulator for prediction markets — alerted the company, the person said. NPR first reported an inquiry into mention markets late Thursday.It's unclear if the inquiry only applies to sports-related mention markets, or all of them regardless of topic. Kalshi and the CFTC declined to comment.Most scrutinizedMention markets are some of prediction markets' most scrutinized offerings. Critics view them as easily manipulable by one individual, and some platforms don't offer them. Mention markets saw about $3.3 million in trading volume on Kalshi last month, according to Dune Analytics, far behind larger markets...