Blockchain.com seeks CFTC approval for U.S. event contracts and crypto derivatives

Blockchain.com has applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for a designated contract market license and futures commission merchant registration, seeking a route to offer event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to retail and institutional customers in the United States.

A designated contract market, or DCM, would permit the company to operate a futures exchange, while futures commission merchant registration covers brokers handling derivatives contracts. Approval would allow Blockchain.com to run its own U.S. marketplace for event contracts, rather than limit these products to its current international offering.

Peter Smith, Blockchain.com’s chief executive and co-founder, told CNBC that users should be able to manage digital assets, trade derivatives and take positions on real-world events without moving between applications. He said the DCM and FCM filings were intended to build toward that outcome in the U.S. under the appropriate regulatory framework.

Earlier this year, the company began providing prediction markets through a partnership with Polymarket and perpetual futures powered by Hyperliquid to some customers outside the United States. It announced plans for the Polymarket integration in July. The new applications seek to bring event contracts and crypto derivatives to the U.S., subject to CFTC approval.

The filings arrive amid a broader push for CFTC exchange registrations. Blockchain.com was the 12th company to file for a DCM license in 2026, while the regulator had approved six new DCMs during the year. Crypto.com and Gemini Space Station operate their own event-contract marketplaces, and Coinbase primarily offers event contracts through its partnership with Kalshi.

Prediction markets are venues where event contracts trade, according to the CFTC’s June proposed rule. Participants can buy or sell contracts to manage the price risk associated with whether a specified event will occur. Total volume at CFTC-registered prediction markets exceeded $25 billion in 2025, the regulator said, compared with a CFTC-regulated futures market with about $31 trillion in notional value.

A platform offering event contracts structured as swaps or futures to the general public must register as a DCM, the agency said. Typically, a DCM self-certifies that a contract complies with applicable rules; the product can be listed after 10 business days unless the CFTC opens a review lasting up to 90 days.

The CFTC’s June proposal set out a structured review process for contracts involving terrorism, gaming or conduct that violates federal or state law. It did not create an outright ban on any category, instead providing for case-by-case determinations of whether a contract is contrary to the public interest. The agency has also maintained that the Commodity Exchange Act gives it exclusive authority over registered DCMs, a position at the centre of disputes with state regulators.

Demand for such registrations has increased sharply. Event-contract listings rose from an annual average of about five between 2006 and 2020 to 131 in 2021 and roughly 1,600 in 2025, according to a Cleary Gottlieb memorandum. CFTC staff were reviewing more than a dozen pending DCM applications as of April 14.