Philadelphia – November 02, 2026 -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has registered Sporttrade as both a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), allowing the Philadelphia-based platform to run a regulated sports event contract exchange and its own clearing house.

Dual registration opens the exchange to intermediated flow

Sporttrade says the status lets it support intermediated activity through Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs). It will also serve direct access participants, Introducing Brokers (IBs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Through its DCO, it can clear for other DCMs. The company contrasts this with many recent registrations, which it says do not offer the same scope.

Fliff is among the brokers being onboarded ahead of launch

Sporttrade is onboarding brokers with national distribution, including Fliff, which will route customer order flow to the exchange pending regulatory approval. The rollout will be phased, starting with select flow and liquidity providers. The company says it is working with a pipeline of additional brokers and institutional partners and expects to expand its market presence in the coming months.

Clearing talks under way with several exchanges

CEO Alexander Kane called the registrations a "full circle moment" for the company. He said Sporttrade has begun clearing discussions with several exchanges, which he says have regarded it as a market leader in exchange and clearing technology for the past five years.

As a registered DCO, Sporttrade will directly clear and settle transactions for self-clearing members and intermediaries. It says it applies a more efficient withholding on member balances while maintaining full collateralization. Broker-facing tools include dedicated order entry, market data, drop copy ports and back-office systems. Sporttrade says its proprietary market structure is built to reduce broker costs by narrowing spreads on the products broker customers want.