By Chris Prentice

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures ‌Trading Commission has sent a ‌rulemaking plan for prediction markets to the ​President's Office of Management and Budget, kicking off the process to write new rules for the controversial, but ‌fast-growing markets.

WHY ⁠IT’S IMPORTANT

Trading on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket ⁠is facing backlash after bets on the potential death of Iran's Supreme ​Leader Ayatollah ​Ali Khamenei ​have sparked threats ‌from U.S. lawmakers to outlaw the wagers.

The platforms also face pushback from state gaming regulators, and the CFTC under its new Republican Chairman ‌is trying to establish ​its jurisdiction over ​such markets.

CONTEXT

The ​Budget office's regulatory affairs ‌website showed the CFTC's ​prediction markets ​regulation had been submitted on Monday and is in "prerule" stage, but ​offered ‌no further details.

The move signals the ​beginning of the rulemaking process.

(Reporting ​by Chris Prentice)