Blockchain.com Files for CFTC Prediction Market Licenses — SkimNews
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- Blockchain.com applied to the CFTC for two licenses—a designated contract market license to operate an event-contract exchange, and a futures commission merchant license to broker derivatives—targeting both U.S. retail and institutional customers.
- The licenses would let the company bring in-house the prediction markets and perpetual futures it currently offers internationally through partnerships with Polymarket and Hyperliquid, per CNBC.
- CEO Peter Smith told CNBC the goal is to let users 'manage digital assets, trade derivatives and bet on real-world events all in one place.'
- Blockchain.com joins 12 companies—11 others plus itself—that have filed for DCM licenses this year, with the CFTC having approved six new ones in 2026.
- A federal license offers jurisdictional cover from state gambling regulators, who have sued prediction-market operators including Kalshi and Polymarket, and the CFTC recently sent the White House new rules cementing its authority over event contracts.
- A court fight over whether event contracts are federally regulated swaps—pitting the NFL and others against Kalshi—has drawn the Supreme Court's attention, per the article.
Why it matters: A CFTC license lets Blockchain.com sidestep the state-level gambling lawsuits that have hit Kalshi and Polymarket while vertically integrating crypto trading and event wagering on one platform. With 12 companies now chasing DCM licenses and six approvals already in 2026, prediction markets are rapidly becoming a federally regulated commodity product, and Bernstein projects the sector could reach a $10 trillion market generating billions in revenue by decade's end.
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