TLDR
- Blockchain.com has applied to the CFTC for Futures Commission Merchant and Designated Contract Market licenses.
- The licenses would let the company run prediction markets for U.S. users.
- The firm also wants to offer crypto derivatives to American customers.
- Blockchain.com already offers prediction markets and perpetual futures outside the U.S.
- The company has more than 44 million confirmed accounts in over 70 countries.
Blockchain.com has filed for federal licenses that would let it run prediction markets in the United States. The Dallas-based crypto company is the latest large digital asset firm to seek a place in the event contract business.
The company submitted its applications to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC. The agency is the federal regulator that oversees yes/no exchanges operating in the country.
What Blockchain.com Applied For
Blockchain.com is seeking two types of permits. The first is a Futures Commission Merchant license, known as an FCM. The second is a Designated Contract Market license, known as a DCM.
FCM permits are obtained through the National Futures Association. These licenses allow holders to process derivatives trades and hold customer funds.
DCMs are registered with the CFTC and are open to both institutional and retail traders. They can clear trades involving futures, options and swaps.
That matters for prediction markets because the CFTC classifies event contracts as swaps. A DCM license would allow Blockchain.com to operate its own prediction market.
The company is also applying to offer crypto derivatives to its U.S. customers. This would expand the products available to American users in its app.
Experience Outside the U.S.
Blockchain.com already offers prediction market trading to users outside the United States. It also offers perpetual futures, often called “perps,” in eligible markets around the world.
“Earlier this year, Blockchain.com announced self-custodied prediction market offerings and perpetual futures trading for users in eligible markets around the world,” the company said in a statement.
“The CFTC license applications are a step toward bringing similar prediction markets and regulated trading offerings directly to U.S. users in the Blockchain.com app,” the statement continued.
The company has a large global customer base. It does business in more than 70 countries and says it has cleared more than $1.1 trillion in crypto transactions.
Blockchain.com also reports more than 95 million wallets across more than 44 million confirmed accounts.
The U.S. prediction market space has so far been largely led by a single company. Blockchain.com would be one of several new entrants if its applications are approved.
Blockchain.com is one of a growing number of crypto brokers to show interest in event contracts. Crypto platforms and yes/no exchanges have increasingly overlapped as the prediction market industry has developed.
If the CFTC approves its applications, Blockchain.com would join Coinbase Global, Crypto.com, Gemini Space Station and Robinhood Markets. Those brokers, all with large crypto businesses, already offer event contracts.
The company did not give a timeline for when it expects a decision from the CFTC. For now, its prediction market and perpetual futures products remain available only to users outside the United States.
