Blockchain.com announced on October 13, 2026, that it has filed applications with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to become a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and a Designated Contract Market (DCM). If approved, the licenses would let the company offer regulated crypto derivatives such as futures and options, as well as prediction market contracts, to U.S. retail and institutional customers in its existing app.
A DCM is a federally regulated exchange where eligible futures and options contracts can be listed and traded, subject to 23 core CFTC principles covering market surveillance, financial integrity, trading rules and system safeguards. An FCM is an intermediary that can accept customer orders and funds for covered derivatives transactions, with capital, reporting and customer protection requirements, including membership in the National Futures Association.
The company has not disclosed a launch timeline, initial contract listings, clearing arrangements, or a clearing partner. It has also not specified which prediction-market categories it may offer in the U.S. Peter Smith, Executive Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blockchain.com, said the applications 'build toward that future in the U.S. through the appropriate regulatory frameworks,' with users able to manage digital assets, trade derivatives, and take positions on real-world events without jumping between apps.
Blockchain.com joins other CFTC applicants including Bullish Markets, Limitless Markets US and 365Prediction. Kalshi and Polymarket US are already listed as existing DCMs. Internationally, Blockchain.com has integrated prediction markets with Polymarket and launched self-custodied perpetual futures, while securing MiCA authorization in the EU via Malta, FCA registration in the UK, and a VASP license in the Cayman Islands.
Prediction markets carry additional legal complexity. In June 2026, the CFTC proposed amendments to event-contract rules covering gaming, war, terrorism and other activities under the Commodity Exchange Act. For U.S. customers, a move into regulated derivatives may require funds to be held with an intermediary for margin, with customer funds associated with exchange-traded futures required to be segregated from an FCM’s own assets. Blockchain.com has not yet published account agreements or custody arrangements for the proposed U.S. products.
