Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange founded in 2011, on Wednesday announced the launch of SnapMarkets, a platform that allows users to bet on whether the price of Bitcoin will rise or fall within 30 seconds.
In what the company calls a skill-based version of prediction markets, stakes start at $1. The announcement comes amid rapid growth in the prediction market, with market leaders Polymarket and Calci expecting total notional trading volume in April to be nearly $24 billion.
Total market trading volume for the month was $29 billion, according to Dune data. This includes event markets across categories such as sports, politics, and finance.
SnapMarkets currently offers other services. Instead of contracts tied to election results, sports results, and macroeconomic events, the app provides quick services. $BTC Price calls resolved every 30 seconds. A spokesperson for Blockchain.com told CoinDesk that additional market formats are planned.
This format makes SnapMarkets closer to short-term trading than traditional event forecasting. The user chooses a direction, selects a bet, and waits for the round to settle down. Beyond that short window, $BTC Price movements can be difficult to predict consistently.
Regulatory background for prediction markets
Prediction markets have spent years fighting the CFTC, including Carsi’s legal battle over election contracts and Polymarket’s 2022 settlement with the CFTC. However, the US attitude has changed over the past year.
The CFTC withdrew its appeal in the Kalsi election contract case in May 2025, but since then the CFTC has turned into an old adversary and now provides more customized guidance through prediction markets.
This change has started a new battle between federal and state regulators. The CFTC has moved to defend its authority over the event contract market, even as state gaming authorities have challenged platforms such as Calci, Robinhood, Crypto.com, Polymarket and Coinbase.
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig has denounced states’ efforts to block prediction markets, and in April the CFTC sued Wisconsin as part of a broader campaign to defend its jurisdiction.
Still, yes-or-no financial products face tougher treatment.
A spokesperson for Blockchain.com said the company “does not consider SnapMarkets to be comparable to binary options” and described the product as a “simple and transparent” way to participate in short-term cryptocurrency price movements “rather than as a traditional derivatives product.”
The European Union’s ESMA banned binary options for retail investors and restricted contracts for difference in 2018. The UK Financial Conduct Authority permanently banned binary options for retail users in 2019. In the United States, retail binary options can only be offered through CFTC-regulated venues.
The CFTC has previously applied similar oversight to crypto-native event markets. In January 2022, the company fined Polymarket $1.4 million, classified its event contracts as unregistered binary options, and ordered it to reduce its U.S. market.
Polymarket later acquired the CFTC-licensed exchange and clearing house for $112 million, creating a regulated path back to the United States. SnapMarkets is not available to users in the US or UK
SnapMarkets also includes live chat, real-time price feeds, streaks, and global leaderboards. Users can connect to their Blockchain.com wallet or another DeFi wallet. New users get a non-custodial wallet by default.
The announcement fits into a broader push by cryptocurrency companies into predictive-style products. Robinhood Predictions, Crypto.com’s OG.com, and Kalshi have all leaned into this category over the past year. SnapMarkets pushes that trend into even faster territory.
