Binance Is Applying for a CFTC License in August — Prediction Markets Are the Goal

Binance.US is moving into prediction markets and perpetuals with plans to file for designated contract market (DCM) status with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) next month. 

Crypto In America’s Eleanor Terrett reported the plan Wednesday on social media platform X, citing CEO Stephen Gregory’s comments at Rare Evo: A Blockchain Event.

Gregory joined Binance US as CEO in March. His background is in building and scaling regulated crypto infrastructure companies, and he holds legal expertise in digital assets compliance and regulatory matters. 

The Legal Mess Is Behind 

Binance.US had faced enforcement actions from both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The SEC dismissed its case last summer following a broader shift in the agency’s posture toward the crypto industry under Chair Paul Atkins, who replaced Gary Gensler after the change in administration. 

The DOJ action, which stemmed from Binance’s 2023 guilty plea to Bank Secrecy Act violations and resulted in a $4.3 billion settlement, placed the exchange under a compliance monitor and set conditions for its continued operation. 

That settlement and the legal cloud that followed contributed to a significant loss of market share and user trust in the US — the situation Gregory was hired specifically to reverse.

The executive had flagged the prediction market ambition as far back as April. “Prediction markets are super hot,” he said at the time. “Everybody’s talking about that.” The CFTC application in August would be the formal step toward making that product a reality.

Binance Joins Coinbase, Gemini and Hyperliquid 

The prediction market race is accelerating across the industry, and Binance’s August CFTC application puts the world’s largest crypto exchange formally in that competition for the first time.

Designated contract market status — the federal classification that makes an exchange a regulated derivatives venue under CFTC oversight — is the same framework that Kalshi operates under and has been defending in courts across multiple states. 

For Binance, obtaining DCM status would allow it to offer prediction markets and perpetual futures contracts to US customers through a federally licensed structure rather than the gray area that has caused legal problems for other platforms.

However, Binance is not the only major exchange chasing prediction market expansion. Coinbase (COIN) said it was entering the prediction market space by giving US customers access to those products. 

Gemini (GEMI) received a $100 million strategic investment in May to fuel its transformation from a crypto exchange into a broader markets company. Lastly, Hyperliquid (HYPE) announced permissionless HIP-4 outcome markets in July, requiring a $30 million stake for deployment.

BNB, Binance’s native token, was trading at $571 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko data, up 0.90% over the past 24 hours. 

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