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- FanDuel has officially secured a futures commission merchant (FCM) license from the National Futures Association, a major regulatory milestone that could grant the operator significantly more economic control over its rapidly expanding U.S. prediction market business.
- While the new approval does not allow FanDuel to operate its own designated exchange, it immediately raises questions regarding its heavily intertwined joint venture with CME Group. FanDuel Predicts launched late last year with CME holding a 51% majority stake, and CME’s CEO previously warned that FanDuel acquiring its own FCM license would actively conflict with their original partnership agreement.
FanDuel has been approved as a member of the National Futures Association, securing a futures commission merchant, or FCM, license that could give the operator more control over its prediction market business in the US.
The approval matters because event contracts are treated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as swaps, making FCM status a key requirement for prediction market operators. It also raises new questions about FanDuel’s partnership with CME Group, which owns 51% of FanDuel Predicts and receives 50% of its gross revenue, according to the source report.
What the FCM approval does, and what it does not do
The National Futures Association defines an FCM as an entity that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell futures, options on futures, retail off-exchange forex contracts or swaps, and accepts customer funds or other assets to support those orders.
For FanDuel, that approval could mean greater economic control over prediction market operations. But the license does not give the company the right to operate its own exchange.
That would require a Designated Contract Market license, along with approval as a Derivative Clearing Organization. The source report said FanDuel does not currently have its own exchange license.
That distinction is important as more prediction market companies pursue a vertically integrated model in which they control more of the exchange and clearing structure themselves.
CME’s role in FanDuel Predicts is now under closer watch
FanDuel and CME announced their partnership in August 2025, and FanDuel Predicts launched in five states last December, according to the report. Under that arrangement, CME holds the majority ownership stake while FanDuel handles marketing, promotion, and technology costs.
Earlier this year, FanDuel also announced a prediction market partnership with Crypto.com’s OG Prediction Markets. The report said parent company Flutter Entertainment stated in August that it was shifting novelty and sports event contracts to Crypto.com, while leaving the CME partnership focused on financial derivatives.
Casino.org reported that FanDuel has not publicly commented on how the new FCM license will affect its relationship with CME in practice.
Still, the issue has already drawn attention from CME leadership. In previously reported remarks, CME Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy said FanDuel potentially obtaining an FCM license was “obviously contractually against what we originally stated with them.”
What comes next
The immediate change is that FanDuel now has NFA approval as an FCM. The bigger unanswered question is whether the company will use that status to seek more direct control of prediction market operations, or eventually pursue the additional approvals needed to run its own exchange.
For now, FanDuel’s new license adds another regulatory piece to a prediction market business that already spans CME, Crypto.com, and federal oversight from the NFA and CFTC.
Source: As reported by casino.org.
