Binance.US is moving to seek approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it looks to enter the U.S. prediction market.

Blockchain media outlet Cointelegraph reported on July 29 that Binance.US plans to apply in August for a designated contract market (DCM) licence and pursue a prediction market service for users.

The plan was announced by Binance.US Chief Executive Steve Gregory at the Rare Evo blockchain conference that day. Gregory said that if it secures a CFTC licence, the exchange can launch its own prediction market. He also said the application timing would be in August.

A DCM is a market designation that allows trading in futures or options contracts under CFTC supervision. Under CFTC guidelines, a DCM can legally handle futures or options contracts based on underlying commodities, indexes or financial instruments. If Binance.US obtains the approval, it will be able to operate a prediction market service in the United States within an institutional framework.

The plan is expected to bring competition with existing prediction market platforms. Gregory mentioned that the approval could serve as a foothold to challenge services such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Because prediction markets involve buying and selling contracts on the outcomes of specific events, whether a service can be offered within a regulatory framework is cited as a key variable for expanding the business.

The process is not currently under way. As of July 29, CFTC records show no filing of a DCM application by Binance.US. Binance.US has disclosed its plan to apply, but formal document submission must come first for the review stage to begin.

There are also many requirements to meet before approval. Companies applying for a DCM designation must comply with 23 core principles, including system safeguards, recordkeeping and prevention of conflicts of interest. That means entering the prediction market business is less about simply adding a service and more like a structural change premised on regulatory requirements.

The planned application is also drawing attention because it comes after regulatory issues surrounding Binance and its U.S. business were addressed once. The move comes more than a year after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped a lawsuit it had filed against Binance, its U.S. affiliate and Changpeng Zhao (CZ), which included allegations such as misuse of customer funds.

Market attention is expected to shift to whether Binance.US actually files an application in August and how broadly the CFTC will allow prediction market businesses. If Binance.US secures the approval, it could become an opportunity for the business scope of U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges to expand into prediction markets.