Binance.US plans to seek a federal derivatives licence in August as it tries to enter the fast-growing US prediction-market sector and rebuild a business weakened by years of regulatory pressure.
CEO Stephen Gregory said on stage at the Rare Evo conference in Las Vegas that the exchange will apply to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to become a designated contract market, or DCM. Approval would allow Binance.US to operate a federally regulated exchange for futures, options and event contracts, although the company has not said when it might go live and the CFTC has not guaranteed approval.
The application would place prediction markets at the centre of Binance.US's attempt to diversify beyond spot cryptocurrency trading. It also reflects a wider shift across trading platforms as conventional crypto volumes weaken while contracts tied to sports, elections and economic events attract new retail activity.
Binance joins the party late
Binance.US is entering a market where competitors have already secured licences, distribution agreements and customers. Kalshi has operated as a DCM since 2020, Polymarket US gained the designation through QCX in 2025 and Gemini received approval in December. Coinbase holds its own DCM, Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, though that licence covers crypto futures rather than event contracts; its prediction products run entirely through a partnership with Kalshi, on Kalshi's licence.
A DCM licence requires an exchange to meet federal standards covering financial resources, market surveillance, customer protection and safeguards against manipulation. Owning the regulated venue would let Binance.US keep more of the economics in-house than if it were to rely on a partnership model, but it would also bring higher compliance and infrastructure costs.
The push forms part of a broader comeback strategy that includes lower fees, stronger liquidity and possible crypto perpetual futures. Binance.US lost much of its domestic market position after global affiliate Binance settled US anti-money-laundering and sanctions cases for $4.3bn in 2023.
Event trading gains ground
The timing reflects a widening divide between crypto trading and prediction markets.
Robinhood provides the clearest indication of the revenue opportunity, and the reason exchanges keep chasing DCM status rather than settling for a distribution deal. Its second-quarter event-contract revenue increased more than tenfold to $156mn as customers traded a record 13.6bn contracts, both records, while its crypto transaction revenue fell 38% to $100mn. Robinhood built its own clearing infrastructure rather than pay away those fees to a partner, the same economics now pulling Binance.US toward a licence of its own.
Binance remains the largest global crypto exchange. Its US affiliate, however, is playing catch-up in a market increasingly shaped by regulated event trading rather than cryptocurrency alone.
