Fliff and Onyx Odds file FCM registrations to enter CFTC-regulated prediction markets
Fliff and Onyx Odds have submitted Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) registrations to access federally regulated event contracts. The move shifts both platforms from sweepstakes models toward CFTC-regulated prediction markets. The filings follow a deal with Crypto.com that opened access to sports, political, crypto, and other event contracts through its regulated infrastructure. State crackdowns on sweepstakes sports betting have eroded the broad U.S. access that made that model attractive, driving operators toward federally regulated alternatives.
For Fliff and Onyx Odds, FCM registration is a hard pivot away from a sweepstakes model under sustained state attack. The platforms are betting that federal CFTC status will shield them from the same gambling-law voiding risk that Novig is already fighting in five states. The Crypto.com infrastructure deal gives them a ready regulatory rail, but the path is crowded: Novig and ProphetX already cleared DCM designation, and Kalshi and Polymarket are bleeding legal resources defending sports contracts on multiple fronts.
If the CFTC or Congress narrows the gambling-odds window further, late entrants may find their federal umbrella has holes. The first FCM approval for a former sweepstakes operator would signal the channel is open; a rejection would strand platforms between dying sweepstakes models and a closing federal gate.