President Donald Trump is expected to attend a White House crypto meeting on Wednesday alongside executives from digital asset firms and prediction market platforms, The Block reported on Saturday, citing two people familiar with the plans. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig is also expected to attend, according to one of those people. The session is set for 2:30 p.m. ET at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing, and it functions as a curtain-raiser for the CFTC’s first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting the following day.
A prediction market is a trading venue where users buy and sell contracts that pay out based on whether a specific real-world event happens, such as an election result or a sports outcome.
Key takeaways
- Trump and CFTC Chair Michael Selig are expected at a 2:30 p.m. ET meeting Wednesday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
- Invitees reported by Semafor include Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi, Paradigm and The Digital Chamber.
- The meeting precedes the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee’s inaugural session Thursday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET, covering crypto regulation, artificial intelligence and prediction markets.
- It lands with the Clarity Act stalled and a Senate cloture vote scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET on Sept. 15.
Published: August 15, 2026, 16:20 UTC
Why the White House is convening crypto executives now
The meeting arrives at a stalled moment for crypto legislation rather than a triumphant one. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed on the Clarity Act on Aug. 8, scheduling a vote for the day after the Senate returns from recess. Invoking cloture requires 60 votes and would only open debate, not pass the bill.
Agency rulemaking has hit friction too. The SEC abruptly canceled its Friday vote on Regulation Crypto without setting a new date, pulling back what would have been Chair Paul Atkins’ first formal crypto rulemaking. Atkins is reported by Bloomberg to be at the White House on Wednesday as well.
With Congress paused and one regulator’s calendar slipping, the executive branch is the venue still moving. That makes a room containing the president, the CFTC chair and the SEC chair a meaningful signal about where policy momentum currently sits.
Prediction markets are the sharpest item on the table
Prediction market jurisdiction is the most contested question heading into the two days in Washington. Selig has argued the CFTC holds exclusive authority over event contracts and has sued several states over efforts to restrict Kalshi and Polymarket, an aggressive posture for an agency that historically stayed out of state gambling policy.
Both platforms absorbed setbacks this week. Baltimore sued Kalshi and Polymarket on Thursday over sports-related contracts, and a Washington state court ordered Kalshi the same day to halt most of its offerings in the state. Michigan has moved in the same direction, where a judge denied Coinbase’s prediction market bid earlier this month.
The CFTC’s published Thursday agenda names the fight directly, listing “the respective roles of federal and state authorities in overseeing prediction markets” and “recent state litigation and enforcement actions” as discussion items.
What business readers should watch
The Innovation Advisory Committee meets Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET in Washington, with public viewing online per a Federal Register notice. Selig named the committee’s 35 members in February, including Polymarket’s Shayne Coplan, Kalshi’s Tarek Mansour and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, alongside executives from Cboe, CME, DTCC and Nasdaq.
Three sessions are scheduled: crypto asset regulation, artificial intelligence and prediction markets. The AI slot is the one most likely to be underestimated, since CFTC-registered venues are already fielding questions about algorithmic execution and model-driven market surveillance.
Conflict-of-interest scrutiny will follow the meeting regardless of what is discussed. Trump called exclusive CFTC jurisdiction over prediction markets “critically important” in a May Truth Social post, and Donald Trump Jr. is a strategic advisor to both Kalshi and Polymarket and has invested in Polymarket through 1789 Capital. The same week brought the OCC’s conditional charter approval for Trump-backed World Liberty National Trust.
Markets showed no immediate reaction. Bitcoin traded near $63,000 and ether near $1,882 midday Saturday, roughly flat on the day.
FAQ
When is the White House crypto meeting?
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which sits next to the West Wing. It is intended as a kickoff for the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee’s first meeting on Thursday.
Who is expected to attend?
Trump and CFTC Chair Michael Selig are expected, per The Block. Semafor reported invitees include executives from Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi and Paradigm, plus The Digital Chamber and Patrick Witt of the President’s Council of Advisers for Digital Assets. SEC Chair Paul Atkins is also reported to be at the White House.
What is the Clarity Act status?
The bill is stalled. Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed on Aug. 8, setting a vote for 2:15 p.m. ET on Sept. 15, the day after the Senate returns from recess. Cloture requires 60 votes and would open debate rather than pass the legislation.
