FanDuel secures standalone FCM license after shifting sports contracts from CME
FanDuel secured a standalone futures commission merchant (FCM) license that operates without CME involvement, giving the company direct economic control over its prediction market operations. The approval follows FanDuel Predicts's move of sports and other non-financial contracts from CME to Crypto.com's OG Prediction Markets. FanDuel retains CME for financial markets. Parent company Flutter said the FCM provides 'further optionality.' FanDuel already holds a designated contract market license.
The standalone FCM lets FanDuel clear and settle its own prediction-market trades rather than routing them through a third party. That removes a dependency layer that competitors like Robinhood still rely on, since Robinhood holds no direct CFTC exchange license and routes through partners including Kalshi and OG.com. For traders, the shift means FanDuel can control margin rules, fee structures, and product launches without waiting on a partner's compliance timeline.
The move comes while state attorneys general increasingly challenge whether CFTC registration shields platforms from gambling laws, as seen in Ohio, Tennessee, and New York. A platform that owns its full stack can geofence or restructure products faster than one negotiating with external infrastructure. FanDuel's optionality is worth most if the preemption fight spreads to more states.