Gemini Space Station, Inc. (GEMI) announced that its affiliate, Gemini Titan LLC, has received authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to operate as a designated contract market (DCM), allowing the company to offer a regulated prediction market to U.S. customers, according to a press release issued Wednesday.
According to the release, Gemini first applied for a DCM license on March 10, 2020, and the company said the approval marks the end of a five-year licensing process and the beginning of a “new chapter” for the exchange.
“Today's approval is the culmination of a five-year licensing process and the beginning of a new chapter for Gemini,” CEO Tyler Winklevoss said in a press release. He thanked President Donald Trump for “bringing an end to the crypto wars in the Biden administration,” and praised CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham for helping advance what he called the president's vision to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world,” according to the statement.
Gemini said the new DCM license will allow Gemini Titan to offer event contracts that consist of simple “yes” or “no” questions tied to future outcomes. Examples cited in the release include the market on whether one Bitcoin will end the year with more than $200,000, or whether Elon Musk's Company X will pay a $140 million fine to the European Commission by 2026.
This approval makes Gemini Titan one of a handful of CFTC-regulated venues permitted to offer event contracts in the United States, a market currently dominated by Calci, which operates under the same DCM framework.
Meanwhile, decentralized platforms such as Polymarket continue to offer services to offshore users without US permission.
The development will add a new regulated competitor to a sector that has seen growing interest as exchanges explore prediction market-style products.
The company also said that U.S. customers will be able to trade these event contracts on Gemini's web interface using USD held in their accounts, with mobile access via the Gemini app also planned to follow. In the same release, Gemini said Gemini Titan plans to expand its offering of derivatives products, including crypto futures, options and perpetual contracts, for U.S. clients, but noted that these products require further development and oversight.
Gemini says its foray into prediction markets is part of a broader effort to build a “one-stop financial super app” for its customers, and in a press release claims that Event Contracts can leverage the “wisdom of the crowd” to improve forecasts and help market participants better prepare for future outcomes.
Gemini did not say when trading in the new market would begin.
Gemini stock (GEMI) soared 13.73% to $12.92 in after-hours trading.
