The CFTC is suing Intrade for apparently allowing U.S. residents to trade contracts on gold, unemployment rates and a few others that it had agreed to prevent U.S. residents from trading. The CFTC is apparently not commenting on whether Intrade’s political contracts violate any laws.
U.S. traders will need to close our accounts.
The email I got says
In the near future we’ll announce plans for a new exchange model that will allow legal participation from all jurisdictions – including the US.
(no statement about whether it will involve real money, which suggests that it won’t).
I had already been considering closing my account because of the hassle of figuring out my Intrade income for tax purposes.