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17 DCM Filings Signal Faster CFTC Approvals, Swelling Prediction Market Pipeline

The federally-regulated prediction market house is already crowded, and filings with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) counsel it may change into much more so within the 12 months forward.

Over the previous 12 months, numerous corporations have submitted purposes to function as a Designated Contract Markets (DCM), the regulatory approval required to listing futures and event-based contracts within the U.S. The regular stream of DCM filings displays rising curiosity in federally-regulated market buildings, as occasion contract buying and selling attracts elevated consideration.

Not all of these purposes are aimed toward prediction markets. Some contain conventional derivatives buying and selling or trade infrastructure. But a better have a look at a number of pending and just lately authorised DCM filings suggests some platforms may very well be positioned to supply regulated occasion contracts, both explicitly or as a part of a broader buying and selling stack. 

17 DCM filings have been made since begin of 2025

Since the start of 2025, the CFTC portal exhibits 17 DCM purposes have been shifting via the company’s assessment course of. Of these, seven have been authorised, together with some which have already made their mark within the prediction markets house, whereas 10 stay pending.

The entities which were authorised by the CFTC to function as a DCM prior to now 12 months (beginning with the latest) are: 

The present pending DCM purposes within the portal are:

  • Sporttrade
  • Juice Exchange
  • Water Street Labs
  • Ludlow Exchange (affiliated with the Novig sports activities trade)
  • Optex Markets
  • XV Exchange
  • tZERO DCM
  • ProphetX
  • RSBIX
  • OneChronos Markets

While some pending filings seem to give attention to conventional derivatives, others contain corporations which have signaled curiosity in providing occasion contract buying and selling.

XV Exchange to leverage STX sports activities trade mannequin

XV Exchange entered the CFTC’s filings portal in December, submitting an utility to function as a DCM. The submitting, which stays pending, locations XV amongst a rising group of candidates in search of approval to listing occasion contracts underneath federal oversight.

In addition to its DCM utility, XV Exchange has additionally submitted filings to function XV Clear as a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO). A DCO designation would permit the corporate to clear trades executed on its trade. Together, the twin filings counsel XV is pursuing a vertically built-in mannequin wherein it might each listing and clear occasion contracts, relatively than counting on a third-party clearinghouse.

XV Exchange is affiliated with STX, a real-money, regulated sports betting exchange working in Canada. XV plans to leverage expertise developed for STX’s trade platform, adapting it for the U.S. regulatory surroundings whereas working as a standalone U.S. entity.

XV Exchange CEO Justin Deutsch, who additionally serves as founder and CEO of STX, confirmed to DeFi Rate that XV is meant to function as a prediction market platform relatively than a traditional derivatives trade. He additionally confirmed that the platform’s deliberate choices would prolong past sports-related markets, indicating an intent to listing occasion contracts throughout a number of classes. 

tZERO may convey crypto-native lens to occasion contract buying and selling

In November, tZERO entered the CFTC portal, submitting purposes to function each a DCM and DCO. If authorised, the pending purposes would permit tZERO not solely to listing derivatives contracts but additionally to clear them, positioning the agency to function a completely built-in trade and clearinghouse. The DCM filings are usually not publicly accessible; a hyperlink to the accompanying redacted utility PDF at present returns a “404 Page Not Found” alert.

While the out there DCO filings themselves don’t spell out particular product plans, tZERO executives have mentioned the licenses may help a variety of derivatives merchandise, together with prediction markets.

“We are taking a look at derivatives together with predictive markets, futures and choices tied to each digital property and conventional merchandise,” tZERO CEO Alan Konevsky mentioned in an interview last year with Markets Media.

tZERO’s current enterprise gives some context for a way any prediction market merchandise may work. The agency operates regulated infrastructure for tokenized and digital securities, together with broker-dealer companies and different buying and selling techniques (ATS), with a give attention to the back-end techniques that deal with how trades are executed and settled. That framework is designed to help merchandise tied to each digital property and conventional monetary devices.

If tZERO had been to introduce prediction markets, they may very well be positioned as an extension of that method. While the corporate has not mentioned it plans to tokenize occasion contracts, executives have mentioned the agency’s derivatives ambitions prolong throughout each digital and conventional asset lessons.

Newly authorised Xchange Alpha targets intermediated futures launch

Xchange Alpha was the latest trade to obtain DCM approval from the CFTC. Dated Jan. 30, the designation clears a key regulatory hurdle for the agency’s deliberate launch of a federally-regulated futures venue.

The firm’s DCM filings present that Xchange Alpha plans to function a central restrict order book-based trade and has designated MIAX Futures Exchange, LLC to supply clearing companies for all listed contracts. MIAX’s position is notable given its broader place within the prediction market and derivatives panorama. Robinhood and Susquehanna International Group acquired majority stakes in MIAXdx, the MIAX group’s derivatives trade and clearing enterprise, as a part of a deal that lays the groundwork for Robinhood to construct and function its (*17*).

In saying the DCM approval on LinkedIn, Xchange Alpha’s Chief Regulatory Officer Bella Rozenberg described the platform as a “absolutely intermediated futures trade,” suggesting buyer entry can be routed via Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) relatively than supplied on to customers. In the identical submit, Rozenberg mentioned Xchange Alpha plans to listing “historically structured futures contracts” and is focusing on a late summer time 2026 launch, whereas additionally teasing future product improvement by including, “Please keep tuned for extra particulars on our revolutionary contracts.”

Rozenberg brings deep regulatory expertise to the trade. According to her LinkedIn account, Rozenberg spent almost 14 years on the CFTC, together with serving as affiliate director for market oversight within the company’s Office of the General Counsel. Rozenberg was additionally senior counsel and head of the Regulatory and Legal Practice Group on the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

DeFi Rate reached out to Rozenberg to ask whether or not Xchange Alpha intends to ultimately listing occasion contracts for buying and selling or whether or not the platform ought to be understood as targeted solely on conventional futures merchandise. She declined to remark, providing as an alternative to revisit the query nearer to launch.

Taken collectively, Xchange Alpha’s filings and public statements level to a launch centered on standard, broker-intermediated futures buying and selling. At the identical time, its DCM approval and third-party clearing association would permit the trade to pursue prediction market merchandise sooner or later, ought to it determine to develop past conventional derivatives.

Could CFTC be dashing up DCM approvals?

Rozenberg mentioned in her submit that the size of time from Xchange Alpha’s submission to approval was roughly 204 days. She famous that the timeline aligns with the CFTC’s statutory 180-day assessment framework and is notable for its relative effectivity in contrast with some prior approvals. 

Some entities needed to wait years for DCM approval. QCX, which was later acquired by Polymarket for its U.S. trade and clearinghouse, submitted its DCM utility greater than 4 years earlier than approval was granted in July of final 12 months, according to founder Sergei Dobrovolskii. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Aristotle Exchange had its DCM filings pending since late 2021 earlier than receiving approval final September. 

While approval delays may very well be brought on by requests for additional or corrected paperwork and Rozenberg’s regulatory expertise may have facilitated a quicker trajectory for Xchange Alpha, the expedited approval might replicate a extra streamlined assessment method. 

Former interim CFTC chair Caroline Pham, who held the place for many of 2025, oversaw the company when Aristotle, QCX, Gemini and others acquired DCM approvals after longer waits. On Rozenberg’s LinkedIn submit, Pham congratulated her and wrote, “Another approval in roughly 7 months,” suggesting sped-up approvals had been a aim throughout her tenure. 

That extra environment friendly approval course of may effectively proceed underneath new CFTC chair Mike Selig’s oversight. In feedback at a current public “harmonization” meeting with SEC chair Paul Atkins, Selig mentioned he was pursuing a brand new occasion contract rulemaking course of and different modifications, indicating a extra platform-friendly method that will encourage innovation within the sector. Continuing to supply extra expedited approvals would definitely match that initiative. 

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