Blockchain.com told CNBC on Friday that it has applied for Commodity Futures Trading Commission licenses to offer U.S. event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives. The company is seeking designation as a designated contract market, the exchange license for futures and event contracts, and registration as a futures commission merchant, the broker classification that handles customer derivatives accounts.
That is a filing story, not an approval story. The firm is not yet authorized to run those U.S. products under the licenses it says it seeks.
What the company said
CEO and co-founder Peter Smith told CNBC that users should be able to manage digital assets, trade derivatives, and take positions on real-world events in one place, without jumping between apps. He said the DCM and FCM applications build toward that future in the United States through the appropriate regulatory frameworks.
Blockchain.com already offers prediction markets through a Polymarket partnership and perpetual futures powered by Hyperliquid to some international customers outside the United States, per CNBC. The dual filings would, if approved, move the firm from distributing partners’ products toward operating its own U.S. exchange and brokerage stack.
What public records show so far
Finance Magnates, citing National Futures Association records, reported that Blockchain.com Derivatives Inc. has had pending applications for FCM registration and NFA membership since Aug. 25. Those applications remain under review. The firm is not yet authorized to conduct FCM business.
Finance Magnates also reported that the DCM application was not yet visible in public CFTC records as of Friday, and that no public filing disclosed products, market-access details, or a launch date. Treat the DCM claim as company-to-CNBC disclosure until it appears in the regulator’s public queue.
The stampede context
CNBC said Blockchain.com joins 11 other companies that have filed for DCM licenses this year. The CFTC has approved six new DCMs in 2026. More firms are chasing the prediction-market boom. Approvals and live U.S. product are still separate steps.
Separately, Blockchain.com confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May. Bloomberg previously reported ambitions around a roughly $4 billion to $6 billion valuation and about a $500 million raise. That is IPO optics context, not the lead of this filing.
Rails and trust
DCM plus FCM would be a model shift: from reseller of Polymarket and Hyperliquid rails to an in-house exchange-and-broker structure for eligible U.S. customers. Finance Magnates noted a similar path at Robinhood, which began by distributing external event contracts before moving toward its own market infrastructure. Blockchain.com has not disclosed whether it would build, buy, or outsource clearing.
For Hardwire readers, the checklist is simple. Watch for the DCM name on the CFTC’s public applicants list. Watch whether the FCM application clears NFA review. Filing is not a license. A license is not a live U.S. product book.
Sources: CNBC; Finance Magnates