CFTC Opens Door for More Apps to Offer Prediction Market Access
Updated September 18, 2026
Updated September 18, 2026
Prediction markets could become much easier to access without users needing a separate prediction-market app.
On September 17, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expanded regulatory relief for certain software providers that connect users with regulated derivatives markets.
The change could make it easier for investing apps, crypto wallets and other financial platforms to offer access to prediction markets inside products their customers already use.
It does not mean any app can suddenly launch its own prediction market. But it could remove one barrier for companies that want to connect users with regulated platforms such as Kalshi.
Today: You normally go directly to a prediction-market platform to trade event contracts.
What could change: An investing app, crypto wallet or financial platform you already use could potentially add prediction markets as another feature.
The important part: The app would not necessarily run the prediction market itself. It could simply provide the interface while the actual trading happens through a CFTC-regulated platform.
Think of it as another door into the same marketplacet.
Editor's notes
“I think prediction markets could follow a similar path to Chromecast. Years ago, you bought a separate Chromecast because your TV didn’t have that functionality. Today, much of it is simply built into the TV. Prediction markets could eventually work the same way. Instead of opening a dedicated prediction market app, you may find that functionality built into the financial apps and platforms you already use.”
The CFTC issued what is known as a no-action position for qualifying providers of "passive software."
That sounds complicated, but the basic issue is fairly simple.
A company that builds software allowing customers to connect with regulated derivatives markets could previously face questions over whether it needed to register as an "introducing broker."
Under the new position, CFTC staff says it will not recommend enforcement over that registration requirement when software providers meet certain conditions.
The move expands on similar relief previously given to crypto wallet developer Phantom Technologies.
Instead of applying only to one company, the framework can now apply more broadly to qualifying software providers.
The CFTC announcement does not provide a list of consumer apps that will add prediction markets.
However, the types of platforms that could potentially benefit include:
That does not mean any specific company in those categories is planning to offer prediction markets.
The bigger point is that prediction markets may no longer need to exist only inside standalone prediction-market apps.
One useful way to understand the change is to separate the app from the market.
An app could potentially let users browse markets, see prices and submit orders.
But the regulated exchange and other registered market participants would still sit behind it.
In other words:
The app provides the front end. The regulated prediction market provides the infrastructure underneath it.
That could matter a lot for companies such as Kalshi.
Instead of having to convince every potential customer to visit its own website or download its own app, a prediction-market exchange could potentially reach users through other financial products.
That may be the most interesting part of the CFTC announcement.
Prediction markets have mostly been treated as standalone destinations. You want to trade an event contract, so you open a prediction-market platform.
That could gradually change.
Users may eventually find prediction markets alongside stocks, crypto or other financial products inside apps they already use.
There are still important limits.
The CFTC did not create a new rule allowing any software company to offer prediction markets.
This is a staff-level no-action position covering a specific registration issue, and software providers still have to meet the CFTC's conditions.
It also does not settle the wider legal disputes surrounding sports event contracts or the ongoing conflict between federal and state regulators.
Still, the announcement could make it easier for prediction markets to reach users outside their own platforms.
And that could make distribution one of the industry's next major areas of competition.
