North Carolina Budget Law Recognizes CFTC Oversight of Prediction Markets

North Carolina has passed a budget law that recognizes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s federal regulatory authority over prediction markets, including platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. The law also sets a 6% tax rate for those markets in the state.

The development matters because prediction markets sit at the intersection of financial regulation, online wagering, and crypto-adjacent market infrastructure. By leaving oversight to the CFTC, North Carolina is taking a different route from states seeking more aggressive local treatment of the sector.

Kalshi and Polymarket have become two of the most visible names in event-based markets, where users trade contracts tied to future outcomes. The North Carolina approach signals that, at least under this budget law, the state is not attempting to become the primary regulator of those platforms.

The 6% tax rate is also notable. According to the source material, it is far below what other states are pursuing, creating a more limited state-level burden than some competing proposals.

For the broader crypto and prediction-market ecosystem, the bill adds another data point in an unsettled regulatory landscape. It does not resolve the national debate, but it shows one state formally acknowledging federal oversight while still creating a tax framework of its own.