Last updated: 20 October 2026 How many new futures exchanges has the CFTC approved, and who is still waiting? We took the CFTC’s full list of designated contract markets and applications, as published on 20 October 2026, and sorted it by status and date.
12 new US futures exchanges since the start of 2025. The CFTC’s list shows 12 designated contract markets with a 2025 or 2026 status date: 6 in 2025 and 6 so far in 2026. Before that, the list shows 7 from 2019 to 2024.
18 more applications are pending, 11 of them with a 2026 date, including Smarkets, Sporttrade, Bullish and 365Prediction.
Prediction markets are behind much of the rush. Polymarket’s US exchange (QCX LLC) was designated in July 2025 and Gemini Titan in December 2025. Kalshi, designated in 2020, saw its Wikipedia page views rise from 2,786 in September 2024 to 73,052 in September 2026.
The full list has 91 entries. 30 are designated, 18 pending, 12 dormant, 28 vacated and 3 withdrawn, as of 20 October 2026.
New exchanges designated since January 2025
| Exchange | Status date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Juice Exchange, LLC | 24 Jul 2026 | Designated |
| Water Street Labs, LLC | 16 Jul 2026 | Designated |
| Optex Markets LLC | 9 Jul 2026 | Designated |
| Ludlow Exchange, LLC | 16 Jun 2026 | Designated |
| ProphetX LLC | 11 Jun 2026 | Designated |
| Xchange Alpha, LLC | 30 Jan 2026 | Designated |
| Gemini Titan, LLC | 10 Dec 2025 | Designated |
| Aristotle Exchange DCM, Inc. | 5 Sep 2025 | Designated |
| Electron Exchange DCM, LLC | 29 Aug 2025 | Designated |
| QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US | 9 Jul 2025 | Designated |
| Railbird Exchange, LLC | 13 Jun 2025 | Designated |
| Quanta Exchange, Inc. | 30 May 2025 | Designated |
A designated contract market (DCM) is a futures exchange approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Every US futures contract you trade, whether at a broker or through a prop firm’s evaluation, is listed on one of them. CME Group’s four exchanges (CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX) still handle almost all retail futures volume, but the number of smaller exchanges is growing quickly.
Designations by year
| Year (status date) | Exchanges designated |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 6 |
| 2026 | 6 |
Years are based on the CFTC’s status date, which for most designated exchanges is the designation date. For some older exchanges it reflects a later change, such as a name change or a reinstatement, so treat the early years as approximate.
Pending applications
| Applicant | Status date |
|---|---|
| ForumEX LLC | 21 Aug 2026 |
| 365Prediction, LLC | 10 Jun 2026 |
| Eventive III, LLC | 20 May 2026 |
| Bullish Markets LLC | 7 May 2026 |
| Limitless Markets US, LLC | 1 May 2026 |
| Six Markets LLC | 30 Apr 2026 |
| TLD Markets, Inc. | 22 Apr 2026 |
| Smarkets Board of Trade Exchange LLC | 3 Mar 2026 |
| PredictCraft Mkt Inc. d/b/a DimeTrades | 11 Feb 2026 |
| PMEX Markets | 9 Feb 2026 |
| Sporttrade DCM LLC | 27 Jan 2026 |
| XV Exchange, LLC | 9 Dec 2025 |
| tZERO DCM, LLC | 21 Nov 2025 |
| RSBIX, LLC | 16 Sep 2025 |
| OneChronos Markets DCM LLC | 31 Jul 2025 |
| American Gas Exchange, LLC | 20 Sep 2016 |
| Aqua-Index Exchange, LLC | 10 Aug 2015 |
| GFI Futures Exchange LLC | 19 Mar 2013 |
A pending application doesn’t mean the CFTC will approve it. Some entries, such as American Gas Exchange (2016) and GFI Futures Exchange (2013), have been pending for years.
Why so many new exchanges?
Most of the 2025–2026 applicants want to list event contracts, which pay out based on the outcome of an event such as an election, a sports game or an economic number. A DCM licence lets a company offer them nationwide under federal rules, which is why several states are now in court with these exchanges. See our prediction-market lawsuits tracker and the lobbying tracker. The CFTC is also consulting on new rules for these markets, listed on our CFTC rulemaking tracker.
What this means for prop traders
Futures prop firms such as Topstep, Apex and MyFundedFutures only offer CME Group contracts, so these new exchanges don’t change what you can trade in an evaluation. To see which CME markets are busiest and how much of each small traders hold, see our US futures markets ranked by open interest.
Sources
- Industry Filings: Designated Contract Markets (DCM), Commodity Futures Trading Commission, retrieved 20 October 2026.
- Wikipedia page views for “Kalshi”, Wikimedia REST API (user views, all access), retrieved 20 October 2026.
Method
We copied every row of the CFTC list (both pages) on 20 October 2026, including the organisation name, status, status date and remarks, without changes. Years are counted from the status date.
Caveats
The status date is the date of the latest status shown, not always the original designation or application date. The list does not show trading volume, and a designated exchange may not have launched trading yet.
The CFTC list spells Crypto.com’s exchange as “Crytpo.com”; we kept its wording in the CSV.
How to cite this
Prop Data Lab, “New US Futures Exchanges Tracker (CFTC DCM list)”, updated 20 October 2026, https://propdatalab.com/new-us-futures-exchanges-cftc-dcm-tracker/
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: copy, chart or republish them, commercial use included, as long as you link back to this page. Data: CFTC (US government work).
Common questions
How many futures exchanges are there in the US?
The CFTC listed 30 designated contract markets on 20 October 2026, plus 18 pending applications.
Is Polymarket a CFTC-regulated exchange?
Yes. QCX LLC, which operates as Polymarket US, has been a designated contract market since 9 July 2025, according to the CFTC's list.
Which exchanges did the CFTC approve in 2026?
Juice Exchange, LLC, Water Street Labs, LLC, Optex Markets LLC, Ludlow Exchange, LLC, ProphetX LLC, Xchange Alpha, LLC, by CFTC status date up to 20 October 2026.
Can I trade these exchanges with a prop firm?
Generally no. Futures prop firms offer CME Group contracts, not event contracts or products from newer exchanges.