Blockchain.com seeks CFTC approval to offer event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives in the US; it already offers some prediction markets internationally
Context & Ripple Effects
US regulated crypto trading has been widening in steps: eligible retail customers gained access to Coinbase BTC and ETH futures in 2023, and the CFTC said spot crypto asset contracts would begin trading on registered futures exchanges in 2025. Coinbase’s September approval to list, broker and clear fully collateralized derivatives in-house further raised the value of regulated market infrastructure.
The event-contract side is becoming similarly contested. Crypto.com launched OG after reporting sharp growth in its event-contract business, while Polymarket pursued CFTC and NFA approval for margin trading in July. Blockchain.com’s international prediction-market experience gives it a product base, but US entry depends on the CFTC process.
First-order effects
- Blockchain.com’s proposed US event-contract and crypto-derivatives offering moves into CFTC review; its stated prediction-market availability remains international until that approval is secured.
- The CFTC becomes the immediate gatekeeper for whether Blockchain.com can bring both product categories to US customers under its proposed structure.
Second-order effects
- Polymarket and Blockchain.com are both making regulatory permissions part of their US product roadmaps, shifting competition toward which platform can secure approved trading features rather than simply launch them.
- A successful path for a combined application would encourage platforms that already offer event contracts or crypto derivatives to consider broader product bundles for US traders.
Third-order effects
- If the CFTC accommodates applications spanning event contracts and crypto derivatives, the distinction between prediction-market operators and regulated crypto-derivatives venues will narrow.
- Regulatory approval, clearing arrangements and product scope are becoming durable competitive assets as event markets move toward the infrastructure used for other financial contracts.
The trend: Prediction markets are converging with regulated crypto-derivatives platforms, with CFTC permissions determining which operators can serve the US market.