Polymarket is seeking approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to bring its primary prediction market back to US users.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the company had discussed lifting the ban on U.S.-based traders with CFTC officials, citing people familiar with the discussions. The ban has been in place since Polymarket reached a settlement with authorities in 2022 and moved its main exchange overseas.
The CFTC last November approved another U.S.-only platform, Polymarket, after the company acquired a registered exchange. The site is not fully launched yet.
Prediction markets allow users to trade contracts tied to future events such as elections, sports matches, and economic data. These markets have come under increasing scrutiny from various states, claiming they function as unlicensed gambling operations.
CFTC needs to vote before lifting Polymarkt’s US block. That process could be made easier now that four seats on the commission are vacant, leaving Chairman Michael Selig as the only sitting member.
Mr. Selig has argued in the past that countries do not have the ability to police prediction markets, and that that authority falls under the jurisdiction of the CFTC.
The meeting also came after authorities accused the soldier of using a virtual private network (VPN) to access Polymarket’s international exchange and making more than $400,000 in trades based on classified information.
Polymarket declined to comment.
