Less than a day after launching Super Bowl betting contracts, Robinhood shut them down at the CFTC’s request.

On Feb. 4, Robinhood pulled the plug on its Super Bowl betting contracts just a day after launch, following a request from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The move comes as regulators grow increasingly wary of event-based trading products, particularly those tied to major sporting events.

The product, launched in partnership with prediction market platform Kalshi, allowed users to bet on the outcome of the Feb. 9 Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Only about 1% of Robinhood’s customers had access to the contracts before they were suspended. Those who had already placed bets will be able to either close their positions or see them through to settlement, but no new trades will be allowed.

Robinhood, frustrated with the turn of events, stated in a tweet that it had been in “regular communication” with the CFTC about its plans and was disappointed by the outcome.

The company did not disclose the exact reasoning behind the CFTC’s intervention, but the decision comes amid broader regulatory scrutiny of event-based contracts.

Just two days ago, the agency launched an inquiry into Crypto.com and Kalshi, questioning whether their own Super Bowl contracts complied with derivatives laws.

Robinhood isn’t new to event-based trading. In October 2024, the company made its first move into the space with contracts tied to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

That launch followed a court ruling in favor of Kalshi, which had challenged the CFTC’s attempts to block election-based prediction markets.

The legal victory allowed Kalshi to continue offering election contracts, but it did little to resolve the regulatory gray area surrounding event-based derivatives.

A CFTC spokesperson reinforced its concerns, stating that it will “exercise its oversight authority to the fullest extent” to ensure firms comply with derivatives laws, Reuters reported.

The agency is taking a hard look at whether these products fall under traditional derivatives rules or if they should be treated as a different class of financial instruments.

For Robinhood, this latest hurdle may not mark the end of its push into the space. The company has indicated plans to launch a more expansive event contracts platform later this year, signaling that it still sees opportunity in the market.

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Caroline Pham, the Republican commissioner who just took over the agency as President Donald Trump returned to the White House, ushered out many of the agency’s top officials under predecessor Rostin Behnam, the Democrat who’d been appointed by Joe Biden.

The staff changes — with each departure replaced by interim officials appointed by Pham — will have implications on cryptocurrency oversight for the U.S. derivatives regulator that’s poised to play a bigger role in the field.

Notably, Harry Jung, who joined the CFTC in 2023 as a senior policy advisor to Pham, will lead the agency’s engagement with the crypto industry. He’s been tapped for an elevated role as the CFTC’s new acting chief of staff.

Pham announced the departure of an extensive list of senior officials, including the agency’s general council and the heads of its enforcement, public affairs, clearing and risk, market oversight and market participants divisions. Also exiting are the head of the office of international affairs and the department that oversees legislative affairs – a key area for the agency as Congress will be working on a crypto bill that could put the CFTC in a starring role.

“I’m pleased to announce CFTC leadership changes with the beginning of the new administration,” Pham said in a statement. “I am grateful for their combined many decades of faithful service to the CFTC, and I appreciate our talented CFTC staff who will be assuming these roles on an interim basis.”

The new acting general counsel — the agency’s top legal official — and Pham’s chief of staff and public-affairs director were lifted from the ranks of staff from her commissioner office: Meghan Tente, Taylor Foy and Jung, respectively. Running the legislative office will be Nicholas Elliot, who previously advised her on policy.

The stand-in enforcement director will be Briang Young, a former Department of Justice veteran who took over the CFTC’s whistleblower officer last year.

President Donald Trump has tapped CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham as the regulator’s acting chair.

Caroline Pham, a junior Republican commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was voted by a five-member leadership panel to lead the agency in the early days of President Trump’s administration.

Pham replaces outgoing CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, who resigned on Jan. 20 as Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. President. As acting chair, Pham will oversee the commission’s operations until the Senate confirms a permanent leader.

Commissioner Pham has previously called for the CFTC to establish clearer rules for the digital asset industry, often dissenting in enforcement actions against blockchain platforms like Uniswap. She has also asserted that crypto utility tokens are not securities, signaling a pro-digital asset stance.

The CFTC may emerge as the leading digital asset regulator amid regime changes and a more favorable crypto policy stance expected under Trump.

Reports of significant changes across key agencies have made headlines since Trump’s victory last year. Former chairs like Rostin Behnam at the CFTC and Gary Gensler at the Securities and Exchange Commission resigned on inauguration day, creating opportunities for Trump to appoint regulators aligned with his pro-crypto agenda.

Yet, crypto was notably absent from an immediate priority list sent from the Trump administration to Republican policymakers. Industry-wide sentiments believe Trump will sign an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve and push through flexible regulations via Congress.