LONDON, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smarkets, one of the UK's leading prediction markets, has filed for a license with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), marking its formal entry into the U.S. prediction markets space. Built on nearly two decades of technology development and approximately $50 billion in lifetime trading volume, the company is bringing a genuinely different model to America - one where prices are set by participants, not the house.
The filing opens two parallel regulatory tracks: a federal route through the CFTC for its core exchange platform, and state-by-state sportsbook licensing for its SBK product.
Founded in 2008 and now the number two prediction market in the UK, Smarkets owns its full technology stack end-to-end, including its matching engine, market-making capability, payments and data settlement systems. The company processes approximately $3 billion in annual traded volume and is profitable. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, which build margins of around 10+ percent into every price, Smarkets operates as a financial exchange with prices being determined in an open marketplace.
"The U.S. market is currently in a race against time to figure out how to regulate the predictions market. For the last nearly two decades, we’ve built Smarkets slow and steady, ensuring we built an exchange platform that did not cut corners and operated with transparency, putting the power into the hands of traders rather than the house,” said Jason Trost, founder and CEO. “We believe now is the time to enter the U.S. market and bring the learnings that have made us successful in the U.K., working with regulators, not around them.”
Smarkets is backed by Susquehanna, one of the world's largest quantitative trading firms, which led a $30M Series B. Previous investors include Passion Capital and DTCP.
ABOUT SMARKETS Founded in 2008, Smarkets operates one of the world's largest regulated prediction markets on sports and political events. Built to function as a financial exchange, Smarkets combines advanced proprietary technology with a focus on transparent pricing to consistently offer some of the most competitive prices on major global events. Visit smarkets.com.
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