Polymarket Derivatives Broker Filing Puts Regulatory Step on Track
Key Facts
It could not be verified that a Polymarket affiliate had been approved to register as a futures commission merchant in the United States, while available information shows PM Derivatives filed its main registration applications on 3 July 2026. The Block reported that the applications covered registration as a futures commission merchant, membership in the National Futures Association and registration as a swap firm. The applications alone do not confirm that the approval discussed in the report was granted. Nor do they establish that the company received direct authorization to launch margin trading. The Block said that activity would also have required approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The applications are part of a separate U.S. structure that Polymarket says it operates alongside its existing blockchain-based international platform. The company describes Polymarket US as a CFTC-licensed U.S. exchange, while saying the international platform is separate and each has its own rules and terms. Polymarket US says its activity is governed by the Commodity Exchange Act. This separation sets important limits on how any registration or approval involving the U.S. entity should be interpreted; information about it does not automatically establish a change in the international platform's status. Describing the U.S. platform as regulated also does not, by itself, establish that every new activity, including margin trading, has become available.
The CFTC listed QCX LLC, which operates as Polymarket US, as a designated contract market on 9 July 2025. On 25 November 2025, Polymarket said the commission had issued an amended designation order allowing access to the U.S. market through brokers. The company said the model allows brokers and customers to be onboarded directly and permits the use of traditional custody and reporting infrastructure. But the announcement did not describe this as an immediate launch of broker-facilitated trading. The company said it would implement additional rules, policies and procedures before the official launch, making completion of operational requirements part of the process that preceded the latest applications.
Registration as a futures commission merchant is distinct from market designation or exchange licensing, which appear as separate tracks in the available information about the company. The National Futures Association is a self-regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry, and the CFTC has designated it as a registered futures association. The association's BASIC database allows users to search the backgrounds of industry professionals and firms. In terms of operational oversight, Polymarket US says its regulatory services agreement with the association supports monitoring of trading practices, investigations and sanctions under Chapter 8 of its rules. The existence of this agreement does not establish that a new registration approval was granted or that requirements for margin trading were completed.
In an earlier comparison published by The Block, Kalshi affiliate Kinetic Markets had received NFA approval to register as a futures commission merchant and swap firm in March 2026, putting it ahead in the path toward margin trading. The publication reported that Kalshi's trading volume reached $33 billion in June 2026, compared with about $14 billion combined at Polymarket and its U.S. entity. The Associated Press estimated trading volume across the two platforms at about $26.6 billion at the time of its report in July 2026, up from $9.75 billion in October 2025, and said nearly two-thirds of activity was on Kalshi. These are figures for earlier periods, providing context for competition between the platforms; they are not trading volumes for the day of the news.
Polymarket US offers contracts tied to the outcomes of future events, according to its explanation of settlement: a contract settles at $1 if the event occurs and $0 if it does not. Dan Lee, Polymarket's U.S. operations chief, told the Associated Press: "Trust is the product we are building here," in the context of the company's efforts to persuade the public and regulators to distinguish the U.S. platform from the international one. In a separate regulatory development, Reuters reported on 27 October 2026 that the CFTC was again investigating whether Polymarket had violated a 2022 agreement to keep U.S. users off its international platform. It reported that the investigation covers the site's controls, advertising, customer onboarding and protections, while clarifying that an investigation does not necessarily mean a violation occurred or that enforcement action will follow.
The company had said on 15 July 2025 that the CFTC and the Justice Department had closed earlier investigations. A week later, it bought a CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange to serve as the foundation for its U.S. operations, Reuters reported. The next step tied to the latest applications is for PM Derivatives to complete the registration process; launching margin trading would also require CFTC approval, according to The Block. Polymarket had said additional rules, policies and procedures would precede the official launch of broker-facilitated trading. Available information does not confirm that the approval at issue in the report was granted or when this activity will launch.