The move came nearly four years after the company was shut out of the American market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and about three months after a no-action letter from the CFTC gave it a regulatory green light to re-enter the market.
“Against all odds. Polymarket’s U.S. app is now being rolled out to those on the waitlist,” the company wrote in a Wednesday post on X. “We’re launching with sports — followed by markets on everything.”
A notice on the company’s U.S. website told those on the waitlist: “Provide your phone number below to secure your spot & be notified when it’s your turn.”
In January 2022, the CFTC fined Polymarket $1.4 million for failing to register with the regulator and ordered the company to both shut down its markets and give full refunds to users.
The company got its regulatory green light to re-enter the American market in September, when the CFTC issued a no-action letter regarding event contracts in response to a request from two entities owned by Polymarket: QCX LLC, a designated contract market, and QC Clearing LLC, a derivatives clearing organization.
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The CFTC’s no-action letter allows event contracts without triggering standard swap data reporting and recordkeeping mandates.
In October, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner and operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), announced a strategic $2 billion investment in Polymarket.
The deal valued Polymarket at roughly $8 billion pre-investment and granted ICE not only a financial stake but also a central role as the global distributor of Polymarket’s event-driven data. In addition, the two companies will collaborate on a new generation of tokenization initiatives.
In November, Polymarket said it received an approval from the CFTC that positioned the company to return to the U.S. under a fully regulated exchange structure.
“This approval allows us to operate in a way that reflects the maturity and transparency that the U.S. regulatory framework demands,” Polymarket Founder and CEO Shayne Coplan said at the time in a press release. “We’re grateful for the constructive engagement with the CFTC and look forward to continuing to demonstrate leadership as a regulated U.S. exchange.”
