Writing
Gaming, derivatives
& fintech.
Prediction markets: the CFTC’s proposal on affiliated market makers
The CFTC has proposed rules for exchanges whose own affiliate trades on them, and it names prediction markets as the place the question matters most. What the proposal would require, what one exchange’s rulebook says today, and how to comment by October 5, 2026.
Prediction markets: the CFTC’s proposal on affiliated market makers
The CFTC has proposed rules for exchanges whose own affiliate trades on them, and it names prediction markets as the place the question matters most. What the proposal would require, what one exchange’s rulebook says today, and how to comment by October 5, 2026.
Loot boxes and skins: what they are and the test that decides them
A paid key, a random cosmetic item and, in some games, a market to sell it in. Under state gambling law the deciding question is whether the item is “something of value” — read here against Valve’s own terms, New York’s lawsuit, Kater and the app-store rules.
Loot boxes and skins: the full analysis for builders
Every loot box has chance built in. Whether it is gambling turns on the other two ends: what the player stakes and whether the item can be worth something outside the game. The statutes, the cases from Kater to the Robux ruling, New York’s suit against Valve, the platform terms on transfer and cash-out, the odds rules, and the structures publishers use.
Loot boxes and skins: what they are and the test that decides them
A paid key, a random cosmetic item and, in some games, a market to sell it in. Under state gambling law the deciding question is whether the item is “something of value” — read here against Valve’s own terms, New York’s lawsuit, Kater and the app-store rules.
Loot boxes and skins: the full analysis for builders
Every loot box has chance built in. Whether it is gambling turns on the other two ends: what the player stakes and whether the item can be worth something outside the game. The statutes, the cases from Kater to the Robux ruling, New York’s suit against Valve, the platform terms on transfer and cash-out, the odds rules, and the structures publishers use.
Sweepstakes casinos: the full analysis for builders
How the dual-currency model is built, what the free method of entry answers and what it does not, the seven theories states now use, where the cases stand, and the designs each state’s law leaves standing.
Sweepstakes casinos: Florida sues the operators and their payment processors
On August 19, Florida’s Attorney General sued VGW and Stake.us, and named five payment companies as co-defendants under a 1951 gambling-loss statute. What the complaints allege, what they do not, and what it changes for vendors.
Sweepstakes casinos: Florida sues the operators and their payment processors
On August 19, Florida’s Attorney General sued VGW and Stake.us, and named five payment companies as co-defendants under a 1951 gambling-loss statute. What the complaints allege, what they do not, and what it changes for vendors.
Sweepstakes casinos: the full analysis for builders
How the dual-currency model is built, what the free method of entry answers and what it does not, the seven theories states now use, where the cases stand, and the designs each state’s law leaves standing.
Sweepstakes casinos: a founder’s checklist
Eight questions to answer before launch, in the order the answers depend on each other — each with the statute that makes it matter and an operator’s own written answer.
Sweepstakes casinos: a founder’s checklist
Eight questions to answer before launch, in the order the answers depend on each other — each with the statute that makes it matter and an operator’s own written answer.
Sweepstakes casinos: what the statutes leave standing
California’s and New York’s bans define the product in cumulative parts. What each part leaves open, what the operators have done with it, and why outside a statute is not the same as lawful.
Sweepstakes casinos: what the statutes leave standing
California’s and New York’s bans define the product in cumulative parts. What each part leaves open, what the operators have done with it, and why outside a statute is not the same as lawful.
Sweepstakes casinos: four states, four ways past the free method of entry
New York defined the product, California counted the free coin, Tennessee called it a lottery and Illinois called it internet gambling — read in the statutes’ own words, and against the operators’ own terms.
Sweepstakes casinos: four states, four ways past the free method of entry
New York defined the product, California counted the free coin, Tennessee called it a lottery and Illinois called it internet gambling — read in the statutes’ own words, and against the operators’ own terms.
Sweepstakes casinos: what they are and the test that decides them
Two currencies, one free way in, and the three-element lottery test the model is designed around — read against the operators’ own rules, Tennessee and Illinois enforcement, and four new state statutes.
Sweepstakes casinos: what they are and the test that decides them
Two currencies, one free way in, and the three-element lottery test the model is designed around — read against the operators’ own rules, Tennessee and Illinois enforcement, and four new state statutes.
Gaming supplier licenses: who needs one, and how New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada and Illinois differ
A guide for B2B gaming technology vendors to supplier and vendor licensing, read from five states’ statutes: the activities that trigger a license, who has to qualify, the fees written into the law, and the routes to start work before the license issues.
NFA and CFTC registration for prediction markets: who registers what, with whom
Exchanges and clearinghouses register with the CFTC directly; brokers, advisers, pool operators and their salespeople register with the CFTC through the NFA and join it. This guide sets out each category in the statute’s words, how event contracts are self-certified under Part 40 and Rule 40.11, and where the state-law litigation stands as of September 30, 2026.
Gaming supplier licenses: who needs one, and how New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada and Illinois differ
A guide for B2B gaming technology vendors to supplier and vendor licensing, read from five states’ statutes: the activities that trigger a license, who has to qualify, the fees written into the law, and the routes to start work before the license issues.
The Commodity Exchange Act and Prediction Markets
The Missing Hedge
The Perpetual Event Contract
The Free Play That Costs Everything
The Loyalty Mint
The House That Hedges
The MEV Tax on Derivatives
The Perpetual Funding Rate Arbitrage
The Mint’s Margin
The Prize Inside
NFA Regulatory Requirements for FCMs, IBs, CPOs, and CTAs
Practical regulatory analysis on the frameworks that govern futures-industry intermediaries.
The House Always Wins: Valve's Loot Box Empire
An examination of virtual gambling, chance-based mechanics, and secondary marketplaces.
The Architecture of Autonomous Code
A legal framework for evaluating how decentralized smart-contract systems are structured and operated.
Elsewhere
Medium archive ↗Substack ↗Prediction Markets Institute study guide ↗