Binance.US is gearing up to take on prediction market leaders Kalshi and Polymarket. The American platform is seeking a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) license to launch its own prediction market.

During a panel at Rare Evo in Las Vegas, the platform’s CEO, Stephen Gregory, confirmed that they plan to apply for a designated contract market (DCM) license next month.

A DCM classification should open the door for retail clients to trade futures, options, and event contracts legally. Crypto America Host Eleanor Terrett even noted that the planned application is part of the company’s “comeback strategy,” which is built around lower trading fees and diversification beyond spot trading into perpetuals and prediction markets.

Binance.US’s strategy for the future comes after years of regulatory setbacks that have drastically diminished its U.S. market presence. Since Gregory took over as CEO this year and the exchange has turned to the business as a whole, rebuilding its trading fees from lower to increased revenue, product expansion and the organization’s compliance controls.

Since relaunching its growth strategy, Binance.US has introduced near-zero trading fees, announced plans to expand into derivatives, and set a goal to capture even more of the U.S. crypto exchange market. The addition of prediction markets would broaden the product landscape and generate more revenue than just trading on crypto.

Binance.US wants to recover its consumer base and trading volumes 

Prediction markets have become one of the fastest-growing segments in financial technology, allowing users to trade contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events. The sector has attracted growing institutional and retail interest following regulatory developments that have expanded the availability of event contracts in the U.S.

The industry has seen rapid growth following legal victories that expanded the availability of event contracts in the U.S.. This has encouraged more financial firms to explore the sector.

Binance.US is the latest exchange wanting to join the prediction market space. If it secures CFTC approval, it will join established players such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Gemini also recently obtained its license, and Coinbase partnered with Kalshi to offer event contracts in the U.S. 

Since 2023, the US entity’s trading volume has cratered. A direct casualty of the broader global platform Binance Holdings’ massive legal battle and settlement with federal agencies. Back then, Binance Holdings admitted to violating major banking acts and thus had to pay about $4.3 billion in penalties. The platform’s former chief, Changpeng Zhao, even spent four months in prison, though he secured a formal pardon from President Donald Trump.

Currently, Zhao still holds a majority stake in Binance.US. In the past few months after his release, he’s been actively championing growth avenues that could revitalize the platform’s domestic footprint. Nevertheless, he insists that his role in the company is solely technical.

In one of his statements, he commented, “We want to do much more business in the US. We want to bring a superior product into the US. We want to make the superior product offering much more accessible to the US consumer.”

Around the same time, a platform spokesperson, speaking on his comments, stated that their core mission is to become the leading U.S. venue for buying, trading, and earning crypto assets, as they focus on new products and changing to meet user needs.

That said, entering the prediction market space could possibly give the platform the boost it needs.

Robinhood may be considering a deal with Crypto.com

Reportedly, Robinhood Markets is also exploring a deal with Crypto.com to list the exchange’s prediction market contracts on its app. Still, there is no guarantee that the negotiations will result in an agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal. If made, the partnership will allow retail traders to access Crypto.com’s binary markets directly from their primary Robinhood accounts.

At the moment, Robinhood sources its event contracts from Kalshi, Interactive Brokers’ ForecastEx, and Rothera. However, the company’s share of Kalshi’s trading volume has been steadily declining since Rothera’s addition. Overall, trading activity on the platform had exceeded 16 billion event contracts this year, compared with more than 12 billion throughout 2025, a notable surge. Even Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, acknowledged the company’s potential. 

This June, he said he considered Robinhood a key rival, despite their partnership. Nonetheless, Kalshi still heavily dominates the U.S. market. The firm saw World Cup betting handles reach an incredible $27 billion, completely eclipsing the $1 billion wagered on the Super Bowl. Combined trading metrics showed that sports categories pulled in 80% of customer order flow across both Kalshi and Polymarket during the cup.

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