Sports Betting Sites / Play / New Kalshi Competitor, Railbird, Granted CFTC Approval

New Kalshi Competitor, Railbird, Granted CFTC Approval

Richard Janvrin

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Publish Date: Jun 25, 2025

Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli

As of June 13, 2025, Railbird Exchange LLC has been granted the status of being a designated contract market.

According to Railbird, they'll now be able to launch a regulated futures exchange that focuses on real-world events.

The company plans to begin trading later this year.

commodity futures trading commission cftc

"Securing this designation is a pivotal milestone for Railbird," said Miles Saffran, CEO and co-founder of Railbird Exchange. "There is real demand for people to put their money behind their views, and we are excited to help shape this space from the ground up."

COO and co-founder Edward Tian added, "Event contracts represent a largely untapped opportunity for individuals and businesses alike to hedge risk. We are looking forward to allowing our users to apply the power of capital markets to everything from daily news to societal changes."

Railbird has partnered with QC Clearing, LLC for clearing services.

Co-founder and COO Edward Tian added a comment saying, “Event contracts represent a largely untapped opportunity for individuals and businesses alike to hedge risk. We are looking forward to allowing our users to apply the power of capital markets to everything from daily news to societal changes.”

Another company, Quanta Exchange, Inc., also received CFTC approval at the end of last month, but its ambitions for trading event contracts are unknown.

More About Railbird

Railbird is a New York-based firm that, as mentioned, has linked up with QC Clearing, LLC for clearing services.

The company was founded in 2021 and is the "graduate of the Winter 2022 cohort of Y Combinator, an accelerator that has launched some of the most successful startups in the world," per the press release.

Y Combinator has launched many other startups, including Airbnb, Dropbox, and more.

Before Railbird, Saffran and Tian worked at Point72, a hedge fund founded by billionaire Steven Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets.

Other members of the team include Anne Loranger, the former CRO at Coinbase. The board included Dawn Stymp, former CFTC Commissioner and Ron Oppenheimer, former GC at Vitol, Inc.

The company plans to offer "an event contracts derivatives exchange that lets users trade on their predictions.

By harnessing trading activity across finance, policy, environment, entertainment, and sports verticals, Railbird will generate real-time insights that will allow individuals and businesses to manage outcomes in an ever-changing world," per their press release.

Based on the last sentence above, the company has hinted at entering the sports betting industry.

Sports event-based contracts are currently available at Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, though numerous state gaming regulators are litigating that status.

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