Three years after U.S. regulators punished Binance for running an unregistered derivatives platform, its American namesake is preparing to ask the same agency for permission to operate one.
- Binance.US, a U.S.-focused crypto exchange, plans to apply in August to become a designated contract market, a derivatives exchange supervised by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- Binance.US CEO Stephen Gregory disclosed the timetable onstage at Rare Evo, a Las Vegas crypto conference, crypto policy reporter Eleanor Terrett said in a Wednesday post on X.
- The goal is to offer prediction markets, where customers trade contracts that pay according to real-world outcomes.
Gregory had discussed prediction markets since April, making the filing date the new development rather than the product idea. No application has been filed or approved.
The ownership test
The Coinformer's review of the CFTC's application rules found that Binance.US would have to identify every owner with at least a 10% stake, describe its affiliates and demonstrate compliance with 23 operating requirements, including governance fitness, market surveillance and conflict controls.
- The agency's 180-day review clock begins only after it considers the application complete, and it may approve, reject or impose conditions on the license.
That disclosure could revive questions about Changpeng Zhao, Binance's billionaire founder and ex-Binance CEO.
In its 2023 complaint, the CFTC described BAM Trading Services, Binance.US's operator, as majority-owned and controlled by Zhao at the time. Binance.US wasn't a defendant in that case.
A comeback from near zero
Gregory is betting new products and rock-bottom fees can revive an exchange whose U.S. market share fell from about 20% in 2022 to almost zero, according to CoinDesk Indices.
- But even a DCM license wouldn't automatically approve every prediction contract. Individual products face separate CFTC filing requirements.
- The agency's proposed prediction market rules could also subject some gaming-related contracts to a 90-day public-interest review.