Polymarket files for CFTC approval to offer US margin trading
Polymarket has applied for CFTC approval to offer regulated margin trading in the United States. The filing seeks a futures commission merchant license and an amendment to its existing regulatory framework. Polymarket acquired CFTC-licensed exchange QCEX (QCX) in 2025 and currently operates in the US under a CFTC order of designation. The move follows rival Kalshi, which received regulatory approval for margin trading in March. Margin trading would let users trade event contracts with borrowed capital, amplifying both gains and losses.
For Polymarket, margin trading is the final piece needed to compete head-to-head with Kalshi for institutional desks. Kalshi's March approval gave it a four-month monopoly on leveraged event contracts; every week that gap persists, Polymarket loses flow to rivals already seeded by DRW, Wintermute, and IMC. The CFTC will scrutinize capital requirements and risk-management protocols before signing off. A delayed or conditional approval would leave Polymarket cash-collateralized through the 2026 midterms and NFL season.
The stakes are higher than product parity: Polymarket's $4 billion weekly volume record shows retail demand, but margin access converts that into block-size trades that attract market makers and tighten spreads. Without it, Polymarket remains a retail venue chasing the same professional users that Kalshi and Novig now court with leverage. The CFTC's pace here sets whether prediction markets fragment by capital efficiency or consolidate around whoever clears trades fastest.
Becomes the third CFTC-registered platform to pursue margin trading after Kalshi's March approval, as regulated venues race to match the capital efficiency that offshore competitors have long offered.