Binance.US Prepares CFTC Application to Launch Prediction Markets

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US aims to offer prediction markets to customers, Crypto in America journalist and host Eleanor Terrett said in a Wednesday (July 29) post on X, citing Binance.US CEO Stephen Gregory’s comments on stage at Rare Evo: A Blockchain Event.

The company plans to submit an application to the Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) for a Designated Contract Market (DCM) next month, according to the post.

“The move is part of the exchange’s broader comeback strategy, which centers on lower trading fees and expanding beyond spot trading with products such as prediction markets and perpetuals,” Terrett said in the post.

Gregory joined Binance.US as CEO in March. In a press release announcing the appointment, the company said that Gregory is experienced in building and scaling regulated crypto infrastructure companies and that he is a lawyer who has become an expert in digital assets compliance and regulatory matters.

Gregory said in the release that Binance.US was ready to “write the next chapter for the best platform for U.S. crypto investors to buy, trade and earn digital assets” and to “take advantage of the many opportunities that exist today.”

It was reported in April that Binance.US was looking to regain a foothold in the U.S. after a rocky period and that those efforts include expanding beyond spot crypto trading into new areas such as derivatives and prediction markets.

The company had faced lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, the former of which dismissed its case last summer.

Gregory is heading Binance.US’s reentry to the American crypto space and the company’s move past basic trading, the April report said.

Gregory said at the time that Binance.US was considering prediction markets as well as other areas.

“Prediction markets are super hot,” Gregory said, per the report. “Everybody’s talking about that.”

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced in December that it was entering the prediction markets game by allowing access to prediction markets in the U.S.

Cryptocurrency and prediction markets platform Gemini Space Station said in May that it received a $100 million strategic investment to fuel its expansion from a crypto company into a markets company.