Reports indicate that President Trump and his family have removed government employees from government agencies to enter the cryptocurrency and prediction markets.
A New York Times investigation revealed that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officials who expressed concerns about prediction markets Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Gemini Titan, which have business ties to relatives of President Donald Trump, were expelled from the agency.
How Prediction Markets and Crypto Firms Steamrolled a Watchdog Agency - The New York Times
NYT investigation alleges CFTC purged staff who questioned Trump-tied crypto firms | The Block
https://www.theblock.co/post/402442/nyt-investigation-alleges-cftc-purged-staff-who-questioned-trump-tied-crypto-firms
According to information obtained by the New York Times from interviews with more than 30 former and current employees and company executives, there are suspicions that companies linked to the Trump family are working to block the regulation of prediction markets.
The companies at the center of the problem are Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Gemini Titan. All of these companies required CFTC approval to enter the prediction market and also had some connection to the Trump family.
For example, Polymarket has received investment from 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm partially owned by Donald Trump Jr., who also serves as an unpaid advisor to the company. Crypto.com is a business partner of Trump Media & Technology Group and has signed an exclusive agreement to launch 'Truth Predict' on 'Truth Social,' a social media site dedicated to President Trump, in October 2025. Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss support American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency company co-founded by Eric Trump.
According to the New York Times, when these three companies first applied to the CFTC to operate prediction market businesses, two employees who questioned the companies' operating policies were suspended, banned from entering the workplace, and subjected to an internal investigation. Three other individuals who were enforcing cryptocurrency-related laws also reportedly received similar disciplinary action, but nothing has been revealed about what they did.
Current and former employees said, 'The employees received a clear message: 'Don't cause trouble for these industries.''
In addition, it has been reported that Caroline Pham, who served as acting chair of the CFTC, and her senior advisor, Bridget Wales, intervened in their respective cases and provided preferential treatment. Both of them reportedly had connections with the three companies.
Furthermore, according to the New York Times, the CFTC has also halted at least five other cryptocurrency-related investigations, including a final-stage investigation into a major exchange, and three senior enforcement officers, including the lead counsel, deputy director, and lead litigation counsel of the cryptocurrency division, are under internal investigation in the spring of 2025 for vague reasons such as 'handling specific enforcement matters.'
The decrease in digital asset-related lawsuits announced by the CFTC has also raised questions. During the second term of the Trump administration, only two cases were announced, both against individual business owners. In contrast, more than 80 cases were announced during the Joe Biden administration, and more than 20 during the first term of the Trump administration.
In response to these reports, the White House countered, 'President Trump has always acted in the best interests of the American people. There are no conflicts of interest whatsoever.'
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