Novig has received a designated contract market (DCM) licence by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and will now push ahead with plans to roll out its prediction market product across the US this summer.
The former sports betting turned sweepstakes operator, which then pivoted again to an exchange model, filed for a DCM licence at the end of January under the Ludlow Exchange LLC banner and with a New York address.
The five-month approval process “represents one of the fastest designations of its kind in CFTC history”, a Novig statement read.
With a DCM licence, Novig plans to be operational across all 50 states and become a sports-first prediction markets platform. It has already surpassed $5bn in cumulative volume prior to getting a licence.
Novig will implement “robust safeguards” associated with financial markets and protections against manipulation and insider trading to help combat fears over the integrity over prediction markets, the operator confirmed.
Jacob Fortinsky, Novig co-founder and CEO, said: “Novig is the best place to trade sports. From day one, our vision has been to operate within a single national framework that raises the standard for the entire category.
“Novig is the first sports prediction market built by sports traders for sports traders, and the momentum we’ve seen to date reinforces that there is real demand for a more efficient, and ultimately more profitable, way for sports fans to participate in sports markets.
“Federal oversight allows us to scale within a framework built on trust, transparency and fairness.
“By aligning incentives with users and removing the structural disadvantages of legacy betting platforms, we’re building a fundamentally different model where participants aren’t playing against the house but operating within a fair and transparent market.”
Novig secured $18m in Series A funding last August and $75m in Series B funding in February this year.
When applying for its DCM licence, Fortinsky said the platform would not just be for sports predictions but a “true peer-to-peer market”.
Novig was previously a commission-free sports betting operator in Colorado but left the state in April 2024, returning in September as a sweepstakes operator in 43 states.
The granted licence arrives a week after the derivatives regulator proposed a set of rules for prediction markets, giving the green light to the majority of event contracts but closing the door on casino-style markets based on ‘luck’.
A day later, ProphetX was registered as a DCM and derivatives clearing organisation after it was granted approval from the CFTC.
The post Novig secures CFTC approval to operate prediction markets across the US first appeared on EGR Intel.
Designated contract market granted by federal derivatives regulator five months after application was filed, marking one of the fastest approvals to date
The post Novig secures CFTC approval to operate prediction markets across the US first appeared on EGR Intel.