Caroline Pham’s “almost everything” remark was a shorthand for the Commodity Exchange Act’s broad definition of a commodity—not a claim that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can regulate every market or activity. The distinction matters as that definition is invoked in disputes over prediction-market contracts.
What did Caroline Pham say?
At a Technology Policy Institute panel, Pham—then a CFTC commissioner—described the Commodity Exchange Act’s definition of a commodity as “pretty much anything except for onions and movie box office receipts.” The transcript’s full wording is: “So what is fun about the CFTC’s jurisdiction and the commodity exchange act is that the definition of a commodity is so extraordinarily broad. It is pretty much any thing, good articles, service, right interest, pretty much anything except for onions and movie box office receipts.” Read the panel transcript.
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The headline-style phrase “almost everything” is a paraphrase of Pham’s “pretty much anything.” She was talking about the breadth of the statutory definition, not saying that the CFTC has unlimited authority over all economic activity.
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The Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) names agricultural products and extends its definition to other goods and articles, as well as certain services, rights, and interests in which contracts for future delivery are dealt in or may be dealt in. That breadth helps explain why the definition can be relevant to contracts whose underlying subject is not a conventional physical commodity. A 2026 legal analysis reproduces the statutory language and discusses its role in current disputes. Read the legal analysis of the definition.
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Does the definition mean the CFTC can regulate almost anything?
No. Whether a particular contract falls within the CEA’s coverage—and what authority the CFTC may exercise over it—depends on the instrument and the applicable statutory provisions. A broad definition of “commodity” is one part of the legal framework, not a stand-alone grant of authority over every activity involving goods, services, rights, or interests.
Pham’s panel remarks also referred to specific CFTC anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authorities and jurisdictional touchpoints. That context reinforces the distinction: identifying something as a commodity does not by itself answer every question about the agency’s authority over a particular market or conduct.
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Why did Pham mention onions and movie box office receipts?
The transcript records the two examples as part of Pham’s colorful description of the definition’s breadth. It does not, by itself, explain a legal rationale for treating onions or movie box office receipts as exceptions. It would therefore be misleading to infer from the remark alone that either example establishes a general rule about the CFTC’s jurisdiction.
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Does this settle whether the CFTC regulates prediction markets?
No. The broad CEA definition is being invoked in contemporary disputes over event and prediction-market contracts, but that does not settle the outcome of every case or establish blanket CFTC authority over prediction markets.
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A Forbes legal analysis published June 1, 2026, describes ongoing disputes involving the CFTC, prediction-market operators, and state gambling rules. It recounts legal arguments about sports event contracts and the reach of the agency’s authority; it does not present those arguments as a universal, settled outcome. The status of litigation and agency policy can change. Read the June 1, 2026 legal analysis.
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- What the statute says: The CEA definition reaches beyond enumerated commodities and includes certain other goods, articles, services, rights, and interests connected to futures contracts.
- What a party argues: A litigant or agency may invoke that definition to support a position about a particular contract.
- What a court has decided: A ruling in a specific dispute must be distinguished from a party’s argument and does not automatically resolve every other market or contract.
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