CoinDesk
Polymarket's U.S. affiliate, Coming Home GBA LLC, applied for a futures commission merchant license with the National Futures Association to offer margin trading to American users, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The company will also need CFTC sign-off on a rulebook change before customers can open positions that are not fully collateralized.
The application follows a trust-marketing push Polymarket unveiled Wednesday aimed at policymakers and regulators, and it lands four years after the platform agreed to stop serving U.S. users as part of a $1.4 million CFTC settlement over unregistered event-based derivatives.
Why it matters
Margin permission would convert Polymarket from a fully collateralized event-betting venue into something that resembles a derivatives book. That is the structural shift, not the headline. Kalshi cleared the same threshold with the CFTC in March, and Polymarket now looks to be lining up behind it on the same regulatory track. Prediction-market volumes hit $51 billion last year and are tracking toward roughly $240 billion in 2026, with Bernstein projecting $1 trillion by 2030 as the category broadens from niche wagering into what the firm calls wide-based "information markets" spanning sports, crypto, politics, and the economy.
Market impact
Approval would mark Polymarket's formal U.S. re-entry under regulator-supervised leverage, a path competitors are already on. Watch for the NFA filing to surface on its public register, for any CFTC request for public comment on the rulebook change, and for the competitive response from Kalshi and emerging exchanges that have so far stayed fully collateralized. Bernstein's $1 trillion 2030 call is the bullish case the industry is now building around; the derivatives-license pipeline is the infrastructure it depends on.
Frequently asked questions
-
What did Polymarket actually file for?
Its U.S. affiliate, Coming Home GBA LLC, applied for a futures commission merchant license with the National Futures Association. That license is the prerequisite for offering margin trading, but Polymarket still needs separate CFTC approval of a rulebook change before users can open non-fully-collateralized positions.
-
Why is Polymarket only now returning to U.S. users?
The platform agreed in 2022 to stop serving U.S. customers as part of a $1.4 million CFTC settlement over unregistered event-based derivatives. The new license application is the formal re-entry path, paired with a Wednesday trust-marketing campaign aimed at policymakers and regulators.
-
Has any competitor already received this approval?
Yes. Kalshi received CFTC clearance to offer margin trading in March 2026. Polymarket's filing lines up behind Kalshi on the same regulatory track rather than opening a new one.
-
How large is the prediction-market opportunity?
Polymarket and Kalshi processed $51 billion in volume last year and are tracking roughly $240 billion in 2026. Bernstein projects the category reaches $1 trillion by 2030 as it broadens from niche event wagering into sports, crypto, politics, and economic "information markets."
-
What changes if the CFTC approves the rulebook?
Polymarket would shift from a fully collateralized event-betting venue to a leveraged derivatives book, putting it on a regulatory footing with Kalshi. The structural shift is the margin permission itself, not the headline framing, because every competing venue will then be measured against the same rulebook.
CryptoSlate
Crypto News
TheBlock
CoinTelegraph
WuBlockchain