CFTC designates Novig as DCM, provides authorization for prediction market offering

Novig confirmed it has received designation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market (DCM), providing authorization to operate a federally regulated prediction market and expand under a single regulatory framework. 

"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,” Novig Co-Founder & CEO Jacob Fortinsky said. 

“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."

As a result of the CFTC designation, Novig will be able to operate across all 50 states and implement safeguards such as market surveillance, protections against manipulation and insider activity and “comprehensive” compliance standards. 

Novig’s approval was said to mark “one of the fastest designations of its kind in CFTC history” and reflects “growing momentum” for exchange-based models which “prioritize fairness, transparency and integrity.”

The prediction market confirmed it surpassed $5bn in cumulative volume and will “dramatically increase its addressable market” while operating under CFTC oversight. 

In February, Novig announced it would “accelerate” the development of its peer-to-peer prediction markets platform following the entity's latest Series B funding round which brought its total capital raised to over $105m.

Novig used the new capital to “deepen product innovation” and expand its team to more than 50 personnel, including operators, engineers and traders focused on developing prediction market infrastructure and transparency features.