Blockchain.com, a long-established digital asset platform, has moved to secure regulatory clearance that would allow it to expand into US prediction markets and cryptocurrency derivatives trading.
The company informed CNBC that it has submitted applications for two licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency responsible for overseeing futures and derivatives markets.
The filings request a designated contract market license, which would authorize Blockchain.com to operate as a regulated futures exchange, and registration as a futures commission merchant, the status that permits a firm to act as a broker for derivatives contracts.
Approval of both would enable the platform to list event contracts—instruments that let participants take positions on the outcomes of real-world events—alongside cryptocurrency derivatives for retail and institutional customers in the United States.
Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of Blockchain.com, framed the applications as part of a broader effort to simplify user experiences.
In a statement, he said customers should be able to manage digital assets, trade derivatives, and take positions on real-world events conveniently without needing to switch between separate applications.
He added that the DCM and FCM applications advance that integrated vision in the US by working through established regulatory channels.
The regulatory push follows activity the company has already launched outside the United States.
Earlier in 2026, Blockchain.com began offering prediction markets to certain international users through a partnership with Polymarket and introduced perpetual futures trading powered by Hyperliquid for a subset of those customers.
Those products currently remain unavailable to US clients.
If the new licenses are granted, Blockchain.com would gain the ability to provide similar offerings directly under its own regulated structure rather than routing them exclusively through third-party partners.
The applications arrive amid rising interest among crypto firms in prediction markets and among prediction market operators in crypto-style products.
Platforms such as Crypto.com and Gemini Space Station run their own event contract marketplaces, while Coinbase primarily offers such contracts through a partnership with Kalshi.
Separately, Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded into perpetual futures—one of the most actively traded instruments in crypto—for US and international users, respectively.
Blockchain.com joins eleven other companies that have filed for designated contract market licenses in 2026 alone.
The CFTC has approved six new DCMs so far this year.
The firm is also advancing plans to enter public markets.
It confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission in May for a proposed initial public offering.
Bloomberg reported the previous month that the company aims to go public this year, targeting a valuation between $4 billion and $6 billion.
The licenses remain under review, with no announced timeline for a potential US launch.
The move reflects a wider industry pattern in which digital asset platforms seek to consolidate custody, trading, derivatives, and event-based contracts into fewer regulated interfaces while navigating an evolving federal and state oversight landscape for prediction markets.
In September 2026, Blockchain.com also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York Stock Exchange Group to explore providing its users access to tokenized US-listed stocks and ETFs through the exchange’s planned digital trading venue, subject to regulatory approvals.
