Blockchain.com Seeks Approval for US Prediction Markets and Crypto Derivatives

In brief

• Blockchain.com has applied to the CFTC for two licenses—a designated contract market and a futures commission merchant—to offer event contracts and crypto derivatives to U.S. retail and institutional customers.
• The move would bring in-house what it now offers abroad through Polymarket and Hyperliquid.
• It joins a crowded federal-license rush, as the CFTC asserts authority amid state gambling suits and a Supreme Court fight.

Blockchain.com is making a bid to join the U.S. prediction-market boom, telling CNBC it has applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for licenses to offer event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to American customers.

The crypto platform filed for two designations, the company told CNBC: a designated contract market license, which would let it operate as a futures exchange for event contracts, and a futures commission merchant license, which would allow it to act as a broker for derivatives.

Together, the approvals would let Blockchain.com run its own regulated marketplace serving both retail and institutional traders in the U.S.

The move would bring in-house what the company currently offers only through partners abroad. Blockchain.com began providing prediction markets to some international customers this year via a partnership with Polymarket, along with perpetual futures powered by the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid.