DraftKings building in-house market making operation for prediction market
DraftKings is building an in-house market making operation for its prediction market, according to a job listing. The move comes as the CFTC proposes a rule that would bar in-house market makers from taking a side. The listing does not specify when it was posted. DraftKings Predictions is a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker and NFA member. The CFTC rule's scope and timing remain unclear from the sources. DraftKings Predictions also offers event contract trading on climate change markets.
DraftKings' in-house market making plan puts it directly in the crosshairs of a pending CFTC rule that would prohibit exactly that structure. The commission wants to bar platforms from operating market makers that take proprietary positions, forcing separation between the exchange and the house. For DraftKings, compliance means either scrapping the build, ring-fencing the unit as independent, or absorbing the role through an arms-length partner.
Any of those paths adds cost and delay while competitors with cleaner structures move faster. The rule's timing is uncertain, but the direction is not: the CFTC is narrowing the lanes for vertically integrated prediction market operators. DraftKings must now decide whether to bet on a regulatory carve-out or pivot before capital is sunk.