The accelerated process for Novig to supply event contracts has ended with the company receiving a key designation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
On Tuesday, the New York-based company announced the CFTC approved its registration as a designated contract market (DCM). The DCM designation allows Novig to supply event contracts to consumers. Meanwhile, companies that are registered with the CFTC as futures commission merchants are allowed to host event contract trading.
“Federal oversight allows us to scale within a framework built on trust, transparency, and fairness,” said Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky in a statement.
Novig’s plans for event contracts include the delivery of sports markets to states nationwide. The company has not disclosed which states it will target.
“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,” continued Fortinsky. “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 will only provide users ages 21 and older with access to event contract trading. Other prediction markets, including Kalshi, impose an age minimum of 18.
Novig entry into prediction market space
Novig announced plans in January to register with the CFTC as a prediction market exchange under Ludlow Exchange LLC. Novig entered the prediction market sector amid a shift in strategy after making several operational changes over the last several years.
Novig filed its DCM paperwork with the CFTC in January, with the agency required to review applications within 180 days of receipt. Novig garnered CFTC approval six months after filing an application that displayed the ability to adhere to the agency’s compliance rules.
In its CFTC application, Novig was required to provide a compliance plan for trading. Novig provided a guidance on how it will remain compliant and adhere to the 23 principles set forth in the Commodity Exchange Act. It also provided guidance on how its event contract offerings would not be “readily susceptible to manipulation.”
Novig’s path to becoming a CFTC-registered DCM was completed quickly and is considered “one of the fastest designations of its kind in CFTC history,” according to the company.
The process was completed in less than seven months. The same process took nearly eight months for a fellow newcomer in prediction markets, ProphetX. In cases under previous administrations, the approval process can extend to 18 months or longer.
DraftKings, by comparison, made direct and expedited entry into prediction markets by acquiring CFTC-registered Railbird Exchange in October 2025.
Novig pivots to prediction market industry
Novig has undergone organizational changes, with the company originally launching as a betting exchange in only two U.S. markets: New Jersey and Colorado.
The two states allowed Novig to solidify a footprint as the only two markets to allow the company to obtain a gaming license as a regulated betting exchange. Novig shuttered its operations in Colorado after only four months, shifting to a sweepstakes model.
Novig offered sweepstakes gaming in more than 40 jurisdictions across the U.S. through the delivery of a dual-currency system of payment for free-to-play prediction gaming.
The company abandoned its sweepstakes offering in 2025 after governors in several states, including New Jersey, signed legislation to ban dual-currency sweepstakes casinos. The shuttering of its sweepstakes model led Novig to explore the prediction market space.
Novig’s entry into prediction markets is supported by a $75 million Series B funding round. The round, closed in February, values the company at approximately $500 million.
The Series B was led by Pantera Capital, an investment company specializing in digital asset and blockchain companies. To date, Novig has raised more than $105 million.
