Blockchain.com launches SnapMarkets — 30-second BTC price bets starting at $1

Blockchain.com has launched SnapMarkets, a platform letting users wager on whether bitcoin's price will rise or fall within 30-second windows, with stakes starting at $1. The company frames it as a skill-based market rather than a derivative product — a distinction that matters given the EU and UK have permanently banned binary options for retail users, and SnapMarkets is currently unavailable in both regions as well as the U.S.

The launch lands as prediction markets post record volumes: Polymarket and Kalshi combined for nearly $24 billion in notional trading in April alone, with the broader sector hitting $29 billion that month. SnapMarkets targets a different niche — ultra-short-term directional calls on BTC rather than election or sports contracts — but the regulatory terrain is equally contested.

The CFTC has shifted from adversary to defender of prediction markets over the past…