Trump to Meet Crypto, Prediction Market Executives Near White House

President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with senior executives from the cryptocurrency and prediction-market industries in Washington on Aug. 19.

The Block reported on Aug. 16 that the meeting is set for 2:30 p.m. Eastern time at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Brian Quintenz is also expected to attend. Bloomberg has reported that Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins is also set to join the meeting.

Invitees reportedly include representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi, Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz, known as a16z, and the Digital Chamber. Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Digital Assets Advisory Council, is also expected to attend.

The gathering comes ahead of the first meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee on Aug. 20. The committee is scheduled to meet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and discuss three areas: crypto regulation, artificial intelligence and prediction markets.

Its 35 participants include Polymarket Chief Executive Officer Shayne Coplan, Kalshi Chief Executive Officer Tarek Mansour, Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse, and representatives from Cboe, CME Group, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and Nasdaq.

The White House meeting is drawing attention because it comes as Senate action on the CLARITY Act, a bill aimed at establishing market-structure rules for the U.S. crypto industry, has been delayed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune recently set a Sept. 15 cloture vote to advance consideration of the bill. Sixty votes are required to invoke cloture in the Senate, and even if the motion passes, that would not amount to final passage of the legislation.

Regulatory authority over prediction markets is also a central issue. The CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee plans to discuss the respective roles of the federal and state governments in overseeing prediction markets, along with recent lawsuits and enforcement actions across the states.

Quintenz has repeatedly maintained that the CFTC has jurisdiction over event contracts tied to outcomes such as elections and sporting events. The agency has already sued several states in response to state-level regulatory actions targeting Kalshi and Polymarket. Trump also backed Quintenz in May, saying the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets is "very important."

The White House meeting could therefore address not only crypto market-structure legislation, but also the conflict between federal and state authorities over prediction-market oversight.