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Novig, a platform that built its early audience through the sweepstakes-style sports betting space, is now trying to step into a very different lane: federally regulated event contracts.
Regulatory filings show Novig has submitted an application with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) through an entity called Ludlow Exchange LLC. The filing is dated January 21 and is still listed as pending.
If approved, that would give Novig a path to offer prediction-market style “event contracts” under CFTC oversight, rather than operating in the patchwork world of state-by-state gambling rules.
Prediction markets are growing, but so is the legal pressure
Operators in this space have leaned on the argument that event contracts are federally regulated derivatives products, meaning CFTC jurisdiction should carry weight even when state gaming regulators disagree. That conflict has already spilled into court fights and public arguments over who is supposed to police sports-related contracts.
For now, prediction markets still have full backing from CFTC, and Novig’s filing is a clear signal it wants the federal badge. Because a successful DCM registration puts the company in the same regulatory category as the major names already battling this out.
A crowded field, and the CFTC is moving too
Novig isn’t walking into an empty market. Kalshi remains the best-known U.S. example of a CFTC-regulated prediction market, and other firms have been pushing into event contracts in different ways. Industry coverage and commentary has described the regulated side of prediction markets as increasingly crowded as more brands chase the same federal route.
At the same time, the CFTC itself has been announcing that clearer rules for event contracts are coming. In late January, the agency’s chair said the CFTC intends to draft standards that give market participants more certainty, partly because the current approach has been messy and hard to apply consistently.
Source: Covers
