The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has granted limited, staff-level relief to prediction market operator Polymarket after the company acquired licensed platform QCX in July. The agency’s no-action letter frees QCX from certain disclosure and recordkeeping requirements, allowing the platform to offer defined event-contract products in the U.S. without immediate enforcement action.
QCX obtained its CFTC license in July and was acquired later that month by Polymarket — the prediction market firm that paused U.S. operations in 2022 amid regulatory scrutiny. The new staff guidance, issued by two divisions of the CFTC rather than as a full commission ruling, mirrors earlier no-action positions the agency took for certain binary-option-style event contracts.
What a no-action letter means: At the staff level, a no-action letter signals that CFTC staff do not intend to recommend enforcement if the recipient operates within clearly defined guardrails. It does not change statutes or rules and can be narrower in scope than a formal commission decision.
The decision follows a cooling of tensions between U.S. regulators and prediction-market firms; federal investigative interest in Polymarket has waned and the broader sector — including competitors like Kalshi — has seen renewed momentum. Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham has acknowledged past regulatory uncertainty, and President Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, former commissioner Brian Quintenz, has spoken favorably about binary event contracts as hedging tools.
Why readers should care: The no-action letter reduces near-term compliance burdens for QCX and could accelerate Polymarket’s re-entry into U.S. markets, increasing competition and user options for event-based trading. But because the relief is staff-level and narrowly defined, firms should still expect evolving oversight and should consult legal counsel before expanding offerings.
Source: CFTC. Read the original coverage for full details.