DraftKings Drops CME, Crypto.com with In-House Exchange DKeX

DraftKings launched DKeX on June 26, a proprietary prediction-markets exchange that replaces the infrastructure it had been renting from CME Group and Crypto.com. The exchange sits inside the unified Draftkings: Sports & Casino app. It runs on technology and a CFTC license DraftKings got from buying Railbird Technologies in October 2025.

The acquisition of Railbird closed in October 2025. Railbird held a CFTC designation as a contract market, allowing it to list event contracts without registering as a national securities exchange. DraftKings rebranded that infrastructure as DKeX and began migrating its existing prediction-market order flow. The company has not said how long the full migration will take.

DKeX: The In-House Exchange

The economic case is simple. When trades cleared on CME or Crypto.com, customers paid an exchange fee plus a DraftKings fee, and the third party took its cut. By matching orders on its own book, DraftKings now collects the full spread. Wall Street broker Bernstein called it a vertical integration play in a June 29 note. The revenue that used to leave the building now stays inside it, the analysts said.

DraftKings did not disclose how much it had been paying CME and Crypto.com. The swap makes those two venues less central for a growing chunk of prediction-market volume. For CME, which holds an 80% market share in listed event contracts, the loss of DraftKings' order flow is a minor dent but a symbolic one. CME Group's stock page carries an Alpha Score of 45/100, a Mixed rating that reflects resilience in futures and options offsetting the small hit in prediction markets.

DraftKings' own stock page scores 33/100, Weak. The low score captures execution risk on the new exchange and the regulatory uncertainty around prediction markets.

The unified app brings prediction markets alongside sports betting and daily fantasy, a combination no other U.S. platform offers.

Industry Consolidation: Who Owns What

DraftKings is not alone in bringing exchange technology in-house. Bernstein noted that over roughly eight months, every major consumer-facing prediction platform has moved to own both its customer base and its exchange. Robinhood built Rothera with Susquehanna International. Coinbase bought The Clearing Company. Flutter, Fanduel's parent, set up a dual-broker structure.

That leaves leaders Kalshi and Polymarket – which own exchange technology but lack a built-in consumer audience – looking like plausible acquisition targets, the analysts argued. The logic: vertical integration is becoming table stakes. A platform without its own exchange risks giving up margin and control over its product roadmap.

The move is part of a broader vertical integration wave across crypto market analysis.

DraftKings said its Predictions platform generated roughly $3.4 billion in annualized consumer volume and $11.3 billion in annualized total trading volume for the week ended June 21, supercharged by the FIFA World Cup. CEO Jason Robins said DKeX provides a vertically integrated foundation. "Enabling us to move faster as we continue enhancing our unified app."

Those annualized headlines flatter a still-small operation. Ingame noted the week's numbers work out to only about $216 million in actual total volume, roughly $31 million a day. Market leader Kalshi routinely clears more than $1 billion a day.

The Federal vs. State Regulatory Clash

DKeX also leans on a regulatory edge that has drawn legal fire. Because its sports event contracts sit under CFTC oversight rather than state gambling law, DraftKings can offer them in 18 states – generally ones where sportsbooks are not legal.

That federal-versus-state question is being fought across the country. The CFTC has sued state regulators to keep prediction markets beyond the reach of local gambling boards. Some lawmakers have pushed for tighter limits on event-based contracts. The outcome of those cases will determine how many more states DraftKings can open.

The company did not disclose a timeline for fully replacing CME and Crypto.com. DraftKings cleared $31 million a day in its first week on DKeX. Kalshi clears more than $1 billion daily.