Polymarket wins CFTC approval for regulated return to the United States

In an amended order of designation issued this week, the CFTC cleared Polymarket to operate as a designated contract market with “intermediated access” in the United States.

In practice, that means US customers will not connect directly to Polymarket’s contracts, but instead will participate through regulated futures commission merchants (FCMs) or brokerage platforms. The arrangement aligns Polymarket with the model used by traditional futures exchanges, rather than unmediated crypto venues.

The order subjects Polymarket to the full suite of federal exchange obligations. These include enhanced market surveillance, clearing standards and Part 16 position reporting, all designed to bring event contracts under the same umbrella as other regulated derivatives.

The company, which blocked US users in 2022 following an earlier enforcement action, had previously signalled that it aimed to reopen domestic access this month.

“People rely on Polymarket because we provide clarity where there is confusion,” founder and chief executive Shayne Coplan said in a statement following the announcement, adding that the CFTC’s decision reflects “growing regulatory acceptance of prediction markets as a mature financial product”.

The move comes against the backdrop of a broader boom in event markets. Volumes across platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have risen sharply this year, driven by election speculation, monetary policy uncertainty and sports partnerships. Polymarket’s recent multi-year deal with UFC parent TKO Group - which will see fan prediction graphics integrated into broadcasts - underscores the platform’s ambition to sit at the crossroads of sport, media and finance.

The CFTC designation does not, however, resolve all questions. State gaming authorities may still argue that certain contracts on sports outcomes fall within their remit, particularly after a Nevada federal court ruling this week concluded that some sports event contracts are not “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act. Polymarket’s status as a federally supervised exchange may therefore be tested in court and in state enforcement decisions.

In the near term, the approval is a clear positive for the platform and for the sector more broadly. It offers a blueprint for how on-chain markets can interlock with traditional intermediaries without abandoning regulatory discipline.

The challenge now is execution: integrating brokers, maintaining robust surveillance and managing state-level frictions while preserving the speed and breadth that made prediction markets distinctive in the first place.