CFTC Grants “No-Action” Leeway to Polymarket

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sent Polymarket a letter saying “No Action.” This is a big help for the prediction market platform because it means it can fully return to the US.

This letter was sent by the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk on December 11, 2025. It says that Polymarket, especially its U.S. business, doesn’t have to follow some of the rules that swap dealers usually have to follow. This change shows that the regulator is looking at event-based derivatives in a very different way.

A “No-Action” letter from regulators tells a business that the agency won’t suggest taking action against it if it does something in a certain way.

In this case, the relief lets Polymarket off the hook for some of its record-keeping and “swap data reporting” responsibilities.

In most cases, derivatives platforms have to send every trade to a “Swap Data Repository” right away. This rule was made for complicated swaps between institutions.

The good news is that the CFTC said that these strict reporting rules aren’t necessary for fully collateralized event contracts, where the user pays for everything up front.

Polymarket must still make transaction data (price, volume, time) public and make sure that all contracts are backed by the right amount of collateral.

This regulatory win came about because Polymarket bought QCEX, a CFTC-licensed exchange, in July 2025. Polymarket has now fixed all the technical issues it needed to fix in order to be able to do business legally in the U.S. thanks to this new “No-Action” relief and the license.

On the other hand, the model will be different from its global platform.

The U.S. version will likely work as a “intermediated” platform, which is different from the offshore version where users connect wallets directly. This means that U.S. traders will be able to get to Polymarket’s event contracts through CFTC-registered brokers (Futures Commission Merchants or FCMs). This makes the platform more like regular financial markets.

With this change, the U.S. prediction market field is very competitive. Polymarket is up against Kalshi and the newly approved Gemini Titan.

The CEO of Polymarket, Shayne Coplan, liked how clear the rules were. Coplan said that after the bigger licensing process, the company is committed to following U.S. laws and rules with “maturity and transparency.” Polymarket is not just a crypto app; it is also a licensed financial exchange.