Polymarket Seeks CFTC Approval to Restore U.S. Exchange

Polymarket has held recent talks with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission about removing a 2022 ban that has kept its main blockchain-based exchange closed to American traders. The company is seeking permission to let U.S. users trade directly on the primary platform instead of routing them through its licensed U.S. entity.

The discussions center on merging the offshore exchange’s blockchain operations with the domestic licenses Polymarket acquired when it bought QCX LLC in July 2025 for about $112 million. QCX was rebranded Polymarket US and provides a CFTC-registered channel for U.S. customers. If regulators approve the integration, the offshore and onshore operations could be folded under a single framework.

Regulators charged the company, then operating as Blockratize Inc., in 2022 with offering unregistered event contracts to U.S. persons. The company paid a $1.4 million civil penalty and agreed at the time to block American traders from its international platform.

After the 2022 settlement, Polymarket pursued a compliance path that included the QCX acquisition. An amended CFTC designation in late 2025 allowed limited intermediated access and Polymarket launched a domestic platform focused on sports and select events. Trading volumes on the domestic site have not matched the liquidity of the main offshore market, a difference the company has cited in its talks with regulators.

Polymarket has attracted institutional backing, including a strategic investment from Intercontinental Exchange that can total up to $2 billion and has been associated with a company valuation near $8 billion. The company also has a commercial data arrangement with Dow Jones. Both Polymarket and the CFTC declined to comment on the current discussions.

Any formal approval would require action by CFTC commissioners. The agency currently has one sitting commissioner, Chair Michael Selig; several seats remain vacant. That composition means a decision on Polymarket’s request could come down to a single vote, a matter that has drawn scrutiny from some lawmakers.

If the CFTC allows the integration, Polymarket would compete directly with Kalshi, the existing CFTC-regulated event contract market. Bringing more trading to the main exchange would place additional volume under federal supervision rather than subjecting activity to differing state rules. The CFTC has recently filed legal actions against New York and Illinois over conflicts between state gambling laws and federal oversight of prediction markets.

Market-integrity concerns are part of the regulatory review. Critics have pointed to risks such as insider trading; U.S. authorities have accused a service member of using a virtual private network to trade on classified information through an offshore platform linked to the sector.

Polymarket has moved from a 2022 enforcement settlement to seeking broader access for U.S. traders by integrating its offshore exchange with its CFTC-registered U.S. arm. Regulators will consider operational, market and investor-protection issues as they review the company’s request.