Blockchain.com seeks US licenses for prediction markets and crypto derivatives

Blockchain.com has applied for two US regulatory authorizations to offer prediction-market contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to retail and institutional customers, the company told CNBC. The filings would give the digital asset platform a route to expand its American trading services as competition between crypto exchanges and event-contract operators intensifies.

The company is seeking designation as a contract market, or DCM, from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allowing it to operate as a futures exchange. It is also applying to register as a futures commission merchant, or FCM, the category covering derivatives brokers. The applications are requests for approval, not an announcement that the US products are available.

Bringing more trading into one platform

The strategy is to combine digital asset management, derivatives and positions on real-world events within one service. Prediction markets let customers trade contracts linked to event outcomes, bringing a different set of trading opportunities alongside cryptocurrency products.

“Users should be able to manage their digital assets, trade derivatives, and take positions on real-world events easily, without jumping between different apps,” Peter Smith, Blockchain.com’s co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement reported by CNBC. “Our DCM and FCM applications build toward that future in the U.S. through the appropriate regulatory frameworks.”

Blockchain.com already has experience distributing both product types outside the United States. Earlier in 2026, it began offering prediction markets through a partnership with Polymarket and perpetual futures powered by Hyperliquid to some international customers.

The US applications therefore concern a broader regulated product offering rather than an entirely new business line. Seeking both exchange and brokerage permissions also distinguishes the proposed American framework from the partner-powered international services described by the company. The report does not specify a US launch date or the individual contracts Blockchain.com would offer.

A crowded race for US permissions

Blockchain.com is entering a field where cryptocurrency platforms and prediction-market businesses increasingly compete across the same products. Crypto.com and Gemini Space Station operate their own event-contract marketplaces, while Coinbase offers event contracts primarily through a partnership with Kalshi, according to CNBC.

The expansion runs in both directions. Kalshi and Polymarket have launched perpetual futures for US and international customers, respectively. For Blockchain.com, adding event contracts would broaden its offering in a market where rivals are already combining crypto-related trading with prediction products.

The regulatory pipeline is also busy. CNBC reported that 11 other companies had filed for DCM licenses in 2026 and that the CFTC had approved six new DCMs during the year. Those figures show growing interest in operating regulated exchanges, though they do not establish when Blockchain.com’s own applications might be decided.

Rules remain part of the expansion challenge

The applications come amid continuing debate over how event contracts should be regulated. Quartz, in a report carried by Yahoo Finance, said the CFTC proposed its first formal event-contract rules in June, setting out a structured review process for categories subject to heightened scrutiny under the Commodity Exchange Act, including gaming and conduct that violates federal or state law.

That report also said the CFTC had sued nine states since April to defend its claimed exclusive authority over designated contract markets against state gambling-law enforcement. For prospective operators, federal licensing is therefore central to US access, but sits within a contested regulatory environment.

An expansion effort alongside IPO preparations

Blockchain.com is pursuing the licenses while preparing for a possible public listing. It confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May. CNBC cited a September Bloomberg report that the company was targeting a 2026 listing at a valuation of $4 billion to $6 billion.

The licensing effort and IPO preparations put US regulatory access and capital markets at the center of the company’s next phase. Neither an approved trading launch nor a completed listing has been announced in the supplied reporting.