Polymarket can go live in the US following CFTC ruling, CEO says

Quick Take

“Polymarket has been given the green light to go live in the USA by the @CFTC,” CEO Shane Coplan said Wednesday on X.

Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction markets platform that rose to prominence during the 2024 presidential election, has been cleared to enter the United States.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk said Wednesday they have taken a no-action position regarding swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations for event contracts in response to a request from QCX, a designated contract market, and QC Clearing, a derivatives clearing organization.

The no-action letter applies in "narrow circumstances", the statement said, and is comparable to no-action letters issued for other similarly situated designated contract markets and derivatives clearing organizations. After a federal investigation was dropped earlier this summer, Polymarket said in July it planned to re-enter the U.S. with the acquisition of derivatives exchange QCEX.

"The divisions will not recommend the CFTC initiate an enforcement action against either entity or their participants for failure to comply with certain swap-related recordkeeping requirements and for failure to report to swap data repositories data associated with binary option transactions and variable payout contract transactions executed on or subject to the rules of QCX LLC and cleared through QC Clearing LLC, subject to the terms of the no-action letter," the statement said.

"Polymarket has been given the green light to go live in the USA by the @CFTC," Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan wrote in a post on X. "Credit to the Commission and Staff for their impressive work. This process has been accomplished in record timing. Stay tuned."

Donald Trump Jr. invested in Polymarket and joined the advisory board last month. In June, Elon Musk’s X said it was “joining forces” with the prediction platform.

The number of new markets on Polymarket surged in July, with over 11,500 markets representing a 44% month-over-month increase, although a far cry from their January peak.

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