Key Notes
- Blockchain.com has applied for US exchange and brokerage registrations to offer event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to retail and institutional customers.
- Its existing international products use Polymarket and Hyperliquid, while the proposed US trading business remains subject to regulatory approval.
- The licensing push runs alongside a confidential IPO filing, with no US event-contract launch date established by the applications.
Blockchain.com has applied for US regulatory registrations to offer prediction-market event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives to retail and institutional customers. The move would expand the platform’s American trading business beyond its existing digital-asset services, subject to approval.
The company told CNBC it is seeking designation as a contract market and registration as a futures commission merchant. CNBC reported the applications on October 9, citing a company statement rather than an announcement granting the registrations.
Co-founder and CEO Peter Smith said the goal is to let customers manage crypto, trade derivatives and take positions on real-world events in one place. He described the applications as a route toward that model within the US regulatory framework.
Exchange and Brokerage Registrations Cover Different Roles
A designated contract market, or DCM, is a trading venue overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The agency’s DCM framework requires exchanges to meet 23 core principles, including safeguards against manipulation, financial resources, recordkeeping and the protection of market participants.
Those obligations continue after designation. Exchanges must enforce their rules, monitor trading and comply with requirements governing the contracts they list. Applying for exchange status therefore begins a regulatory review; it does not itself authorize customers to start trading a proposed product.
The futures commission merchant, or FCM, application concerns the intermediary role. The National Futures Association defines an FCM as an entity that accepts or solicits derivatives orders and accepts customer money or assets to support them.
The CFTC has delegated registration of FCMs to the NFA, and registered firms must be NFA members. The two applications thus address different functions: operating a marketplace and handling customers’ derivatives business.
Polymarket and Hyperliquid Already Power International Products
Blockchain.com has already introduced related services for some customers outside the United States. Its July 13 Polymarket announcement described prediction markets integrated into its app, covering outcomes in areas such as politics, sports, crypto and culture.
That product lets users buy and sell positions before an event resolves. In a typical binary market, a correct outcome pays $1 and the alternative pays nothing, while the trading price changes as participants reassess the event’s likelihood.
The CFTC’s own event-contract guide explains that these instruments can be used to hedge an economic exposure or speculate on an outcome. Their underlying reference is an event, rather than ownership of a company or direct possession of a cryptocurrency.
Blockchain.com separately introduced perpetuals in April through its non-custodial DeFi wallet, using Hyperliquid’s trading infrastructure. Perpetual futures have no scheduled expiry, distinguishing them from contracts that settle on a fixed date.
Its support documentation says Blockchain.com supplies the interface and does not operate or control the third-party protocol. It also notes that perpetuals are unavailable in some jurisdictions. Those international integrations should not be treated as the already approved structure of the proposed US business.
Prediction Markets and Crypto Derivatives Converge
The application comes as the boundary between event-contract platforms and crypto derivatives venues becomes less distinct. One concrete example is Kalshi: on May 29, the CFTC approved BTCPERP, a perpetual futures contract referencing Bitcoin’s spot price.
That order concerned a specific contract submitted by KalshiEX, an existing designated contract market. It provides a precedent for a prediction-market operator adding a crypto-linked perpetual, but does not constitute approval of Blockchain.com’s applications or its eventual product list.
The regulator’s public exchange register lists six exchanges designated during 2026 and several other pending applications. The records distinguish companies seeking entry from those that have already obtained exchange status.
The push also runs alongside the CFTC’s broader crypto rulemaking, covered by CoinScreamer earlier this week. That consultation explores a framework for eligible crypto transactions and markets; it remains separate from the existing DCM and FCM registration processes.
US Expansion Runs Alongside IPO Preparations
Blockchain.com’s regulatory plans coincide with preparations for a public listing. On May 21, Blockchain.com Group Holdings announced a confidential draft Form S-1 submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed offering of Class A ordinary shares.
The announcement, also covered in CoinScreamer’s IPO report, said the number of shares and price range had not been determined. Completion remained subject to market conditions and the SEC’s review process.
The IPO and derivatives applications are separate regulatory tracks. Neither establishes a launch date for US event contracts. The next substantive milestone for the trading expansion is a registration decision and a disclosed product offering, rather than the applications alone.
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