Intrade shuts its doors to U.S. customers

Intrade announced Monday that it could no longer accept U.S. customers, after a top federal regulator accused the online betting site of allowing illegal trades.

In a message on its site, Intrade chalked up its decision to “legal and regulatory pressures” and said U.S. traders needed to complete trades before Dec. 23.

“We understand this announcement may come as a surprise and a disappointment, and we apologize for the short notice and haste required to deal with this,” Intrade said. “We would like to sincerely thank all U.S. customers for their custom, support and loyalty over the years.”

Intrade also said that it would not charge customers the standard $4.99 monthly fee at the beginning of next month.

The decision comes after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued the Irish-based Intrade and its parent company, Trade Exchange Limited Network, for allowing certain trades outside of government-endorsed exchanges.

The CFTC says that Intrade allowed customers to make unauthorized trades on the price of gold, other commodities and predictions about wars between 2007 and earlier this year. 

In its lawsuit, the CFTC also says that both Intrade and TEN filed false financial forms, and that TEN disregarded a 2005 cease and desist order.

Intrade facilitates a wide range of bets, from its closely watched odds on this year's presidential election to predictions over the upcoming Academy Awards.

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