Blockchain.com has applied to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for approval to operate both a futures brokerage and a regulated trading venue, positioning the company to offer crypto derivatives and event-based contracts to U.S. customers if the applications are granted.
The company said on Oct. 13 that it submitted applications for registration as a futures commission merchant, or FCM, and designation as a designated contract market, or DCM. Those are separate CFTC-regulated roles: an FCM can accept and handle customer orders and collateral for derivatives trading, while a DCM is an exchange authorized to list and operate futures and options markets.
If approved, the structure would allow Blockchain.com to bring futures, options and prediction-market-style event contracts into its U.S. app under federal commodities regulation. The company said the proposed products would serve both retail and institutional users.
Two approvals would cover brokerage and exchange functions
The filings would give Blockchain.com a route toward operating on both sides of a derivatives transaction: providing customer access as a broker while also seeking authority to run the market where contracts trade.
That model could reduce the need for U.S. customers to move between separate crypto wallets, derivatives platforms and event-contract services. Blockchain.com said its goal is to let users hold digital assets, trade regulated contracts and take positions on real-world events through one application.
Peter Smith, Blockchain.com’s executive chairman, chief executive and co-founder, linked the applications to the company’s effort to build within U.S. regulatory frameworks. The company did not provide a timetable for CFTC action or identify which initial contracts it expects to list if the applications move forward.
CFTC designation would subject any approved venue to the agency’s rules for contract-market operations, including core principles covering market surveillance, financial integrity, customer protections and prevention of abusive trading practices. An FCM registration would bring separate obligations for the handling of customer funds, recordkeeping and regulatory compliance.
The dual applications do not themselves authorize Blockchain.com to launch U.S. derivatives or event contracts. The company would need CFTC approval before operating in either capacity, and any products offered through an approved market would remain subject to the agency’s contract-review and oversight framework.
Prediction products move toward a regulated U.S. route
Blockchain.com’s applications arrive as event-contract markets have drawn greater attention from crypto companies and derivatives platforms. These contracts allow users to take positions on outcomes such as elections, economic releases, sports or other defined events, depending on the contracts a venue offers and regulators permit.
The category has become one of the more contested areas of U.S. financial regulation. Supporters characterize event contracts as tools for hedging and price discovery, while critics and some state authorities have challenged markets tied to sports and other activities that resemble wagering.
Blockchain.com did not specify the real-world events its proposed U.S. contracts would cover. That omission leaves open a central commercial question: whether its eventual product lineup would focus on economic and political outcomes, crypto-linked events, sports-related markets, or a narrower set of CFTC-accepted contracts.
The company has already tested related products outside the United States. Earlier in 2026, Blockchain.com introduced self-custodied prediction-market access and self-custodied perpetual futures trading in eligible non-U.S. markets, it said.
Self-custody means users retain control of the private keys associated with their assets rather than depositing those assets with a centralized trading platform. Perpetual futures are derivatives contracts without an expiry date, often using funding payments to keep their price near the underlying asset’s spot price.
A U.S. offering would face a different structure. Regulated futures and options products generally require an approved market framework, intermediary rules and protections around customer collateral. That would place Blockchain.com’s proposed domestic offering closer to the conventional derivatives-market model than its self-custodied products offered in eligible overseas jurisdictions.
Licensing strategy spans Europe, Britain and Cayman Islands
Blockchain.com described the CFTC applications as part of a licensing strategy across multiple jurisdictions. The company said it has received authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, framework through the Malta Financial Services Authority.
It also said it holds registration with the UK Financial Conduct Authority and a virtual asset service provider license in the Cayman Islands. Each authorization applies within its own jurisdiction and regulatory perimeter, rather than creating a single global license for the company’s services.
The U.S. filings place derivatives at the center of Blockchain.com’s next regulatory push. Its original business was built around cryptocurrency wallets and blockchain data services, but the company has increasingly added trading functions and regulated-market ambitions as customers seek access to a broader range of products from fewer platforms.
Blockchain.com said it was founded in 2011 and has supported more than 95 million wallets and 44 million confirmed accounts. The company also reported more than $1.1 trillion in crypto transactions processed and operations in more than 70 jurisdictions.
Those figures are company-reported and describe historical activity across its global business, rather than the size of any future U.S. derivatives operation.
For U.S. users, the practical outcome depends on the CFTC’s review of both applications and the contracts Blockchain.com ultimately proposes. Approval would give the company a federally supervised path into crypto-linked derivatives and event markets; a pending application alone does not make those products available to customers.
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