Blockchain.com has applied to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for approvals that would allow it to offer prediction-market event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to retail and institutional customers. The company is seeking both a designated contract market (DCM) licence and registration as a futures commission merchant (FCM). The applications would put its proposed U.S. services within the federal derivatives framework, rather than simply extending products it already offers internationally.
Two applications, two functions
A DCM designation would allow Blockchain.com to operate a futures exchange where customers can trade event contracts and derivatives. Its separate FCM application concerns the intermediary role: futures commission merchants act as brokers for derivatives contracts. The filings therefore seek approval for both a venue and a brokerage function, not just permission to list a new product.
The company told CNBC that its planned customers include both retail and institutional participants in the United States. CEO and co-founder Peter Smith said the applications are intended to let users manage digital assets, trade derivatives and take positions on real-world events within one service. The statement describes the company’s goal; the applications themselves do not establish that the CFTC has approved either registration.
International products precede the U.S. bid
Earlier this year, Blockchain.com began offering prediction markets to some customers outside the United States through a partnership with Polymarket. It also made perpetual futures powered by Hyperliquid available to some international customers. Those launches provide a precedent for the products the company wants to bring to the U.S., but they do not amount to approval for domestic trading.
The distinction matters because prediction markets and derivatives offered to U.S. customers operate under federal oversight. The source material identifies CFTC registration as the route for a platform seeking to accept U.S. customers through a DCM. Blockchain.com’s applications would place its proposed event-contract and derivatives services within that framework if the regulator grants them.
A crowded market for event contracts
Blockchain.com is entering a field where crypto businesses and prediction-market platforms are moving into each other’s territory. Crypto.com and Gemini Space Station have their own event-contract marketplaces, while Coinbase offers event contracts primarily through a partnership with Kalshi. The range of arrangements shows that a company can pursue the market through its own venue or work with an existing operator.
The crossover also runs in the other direction: Kalshi and Polymarket have introduced perpetual futures for U.S. and international customers, respectively. These products connect event-based trading with crypto derivatives, but the companies’ different customer markets underline why U.S. regulatory status is consequential. Blockchain.com’s proposed DCM and FCM registrations would address its ability to serve U.S. customers directly.
CFTC decisions set the near-term test
Blockchain.com joins 11 other companies that have filed this year to seek DCM licences. The CFTC approved six new DCMs in 2026, offering a measure of the regulator’s recent licensing activity—but not a prediction of how it will rule on Blockchain.com’s applications. The company still needs the relevant approvals before it can operate the proposed U.S. exchange and brokerage services.
For customers, the practical outcome depends on those decisions: a filing alone does not make event contracts or crypto derivatives available through Blockchain.com in the United States. The company’s international partnership with Polymarket and access to Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures are separate from the domestic applications. The CFTC’s review is therefore the immediate step between the company’s stated plan and a U.S. launch.
IPO plans add a corporate backdrop
The regulatory bid comes as Blockchain.com is also preparing for a possible public-market debut. It confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May. Bloomberg reported last month that the company planned to go public this year, targeting a valuation of $4 billion to $6 billion.
The IPO plans are a separate process from the CFTC applications: the SEC filing concerns a potential public offering, while the CFTC filings concern permission to operate in derivatives markets. Together, the developments put the company’s expansion plans and regulatory status in focus, but neither a public listing nor approval for the proposed U.S. products is established by the applications alone.
Takeaway: Blockchain.com’s U.S. event-contract and crypto-derivatives plans hinge on CFTC approval of its DCM and FCM applications.
References
- RotoWire — “Crypto Prediction Markets Guide: Can You Trade Predictions on Crypto?”
- crypto.com — “What are prediction markets and how do they work?”
- LinkedIn — “Marex Expands into Crypto and Prediction Markets | John Lothian posted on the topic”
- coingape.com — “Best Regulated Prediction Markets in the US – Top List Compared”
- csgsouth.org — “Prediction Markets – CSG South”
Topic guide: Crypto: The Complete Guide