Judge rejects CFTC deference, lets New York require a gambling license for Novig

Judge Colleen McMahon declined to defer to the CFTC and called its October swap rules inherently contradictory, ruling at the preliminary-injunction stage that New York can require a state gambling license for Novig's sports event contracts. The decision lets state regulators assert authority over event-based contracts that the CFTC has sought to treat as federally regulated swaps. For traders, it signals that prediction-market and event-contract platforms face state-by-state licensing risk, a negative for the sector's growth outlook.