Today in crypto: Polymarket received approval to operate an intermediated trading platform in the United States. The United Arab Emirates introduced a new financial law bringing crypto under regulatory oversight, and crypto projects saw their second-best quarter of venture capital funding since Q3 2022.
Polymarket wins regulatory approval to operate US trading platform
Prediction platform Polymarket has received regulatory approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate an intermediated trading platform.
In a Tuesday notice, Polymarket said the CFTC issued an Amended Order of Designation, which will allow the company to “operate an intermediated trading platform subject to the full set of requirements applicable to federally regulated US exchanges.” According to Polymarket, the approval will result in the platform onboarding brokerages and customers directly and facilitating trading on US venues.
“This approval allows us to operate in a way that reflects the maturity and transparency that the US regulatory framework demands,” said Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan.
The regulatory approval came about five months after the CFTC and the US Department of Justice closed an investigation into Polymarket regarding whether the platform accepted trades from US-based users. The FBI reportedly raided Coplan’s home as part of the probe into the prediction platform, seizing his electronic devices.
The predictions platform is subject to oversight and regulation from the CFTC while operating in the United States. A market structure bill moving its way through Congress could also expand the CFTC’s authority over digital assets.
UAE’s new financial law pulls DeFi and Web3 into regulatory scope
The UAE’s new central bank law, Federal Decree Law No. 6 of 2025, introduces “one of the most consequential regulatory shifts” for the crypto industry in the region, Irina Heaver, a local crypto lawyer and founder of NeosLegal, told Cointelegraph.
“It brings protocols, DeFi platforms, middleware, and even infrastructure providers into scope if they enable activities such as payments, exchange, lending, custody, or investment services,” Heaver said.
According to the lawyer, industry projects building or operating in the UAE should treat this as a pivotal regulatory milestone and align their systems before the September 2026 transition deadline.
Issued in the Official Gazette and legally effective since Sept. 16, 2025, the UAE’s Federal Decree Law No. 6 is a central bank law that regulates financial institutions, insurance business as well as digital asset-related activities.
Its key provisions, Article 61 and Article 62, provide a list of activities that require a license from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), including crypto payments and digital stored value.
“Article 62 states that any person who carries on, offers, issues, or facilitates a licensed financial activity ‘through any means, medium, or technology’ falls under the regulatory perimeter of the CBUAE,” Heaver said.
In practice, this means DeFi projects can no longer avoid regulation by claiming they are “just code,” the lawyer said, adding that the argument of “decentralization” does not exempt a protocol from compliance.
Crypto VC activity hits $4.6 billion in third quarter
Crypto-focused venture capital investment reached $4.65 billion in the third quarter, the second-highest amount of activity since crypto exchange FTX collapsed in late 2022 and decimated venture bets on crypto.
Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn, said in a report on Monday that Q3’s venture bets were a 290% quarter-on-quarter jump and the largest quarter since Q1, which saw $4.8 billion in investments.
“Despite remaining below 2021-2022 bull market levels, venture activity remains active and healthy overall,” Thorn said. “Sectors like stablecoins, AI, blockchain infrastructure, and trading continue to draw deals and dollars, and pre-seed activity remains consistent.”
Q3 saw 414 venture deals, with seven accounting for half of the capital raised over the quarter.
Those included financial technology company Revolut, which attracted $1 billion, crypto exchange Kraken with $500 million and crypto-focused US bank Erebor with $250 million.
Meanwhile, established companies, those founded in 2018, accounted for most of the capital raised, while companies founded in 2024 accounted for the highest number of deals.