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Fanatics to buy CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse for predictions
The acquisition will allow Fanatics Markets to list and settle event contracts directly, reducing reliance on third-party rails as prediction-market volume grows.
Fanatics agreed to acquire a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse from BGC Group as it expands its prediction-market ambitions, according to Decrypt. The sports platform will purchase Water Street Labs, a designated contract market, and CX Clearinghouse, a registered derivatives clearing organization, with terms not disclosed.
Owning both the exchange and clearinghouse is designed to let Fanatics list and settle event contracts directly on its Fanatics Markets platform, rather than routing trades through other providers. Decrypt notes the move mirrors how other sports-betting operators have entered CFTC-regulated event contracts to reach fans in states where mobile sports betting is banned.
The broader push reflects rapid growth in the prediction-markets space. Decrypt cited data from Dune Analytics showing Kalshi accounted for $33.0 billion of trading volume in June, and that total prediction-market trading volume across venues stood at $48.0 billion so far in July.
Wall Street has also taken notice, Decrypt added, including NYSE parent ICE’s investment of $1.6 billion in Polymarket. The Fanatics deal further underscores that competition in prediction markets is increasingly centered on controlling the underlying regulated trading infrastructure.