Rothera is a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse for event contracts. Through its dual Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) registrations, Rothera brings trading and clearing together within a single platform designed to provide greater efficiency, transparency, and risk controls for market participants.
In a broad sense, yes. The term “prediction market” is commonly used to describe markets in which participants take positions on future outcomes. Rothera is more precisely a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse for event contracts, which are swaps. Rothera brings buyers and sellers together on a regulated marketplace and provides the trading and clearing infrastructure that enables them to access event contracts.
Rothera was founded as a joint venture between Robinhood and Susquehanna International Group, two firms whose combined experience includes retail market access via top notch user experience, professional liquidity provision, and market structure. Rothera is a separate legal entity with its own executive management, board of directors, staff, offices and operations, technology stack, and corporate governance.
Rothera serves a growing ecosystem of Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs), market makers, and other professional market participants trading event contracts. Rothera is designed to provide fair, non-discriminatory access as additional firms join the venue.
Rothera is built as institutional market infrastructure for event contracts, with an intermediary-focused model that enables FCMs to retain control of their customer relationships and business models. It also combines trading and clearing within a single CFTC-regulated platform, pairs modern technology with decades of institutional market experience, and takes a disciplined approach to listing contracts with clear, objective settlement criteria designed to support market integrity and durable markets.
No. While Rothera executes both retail and institutional order flow, it is not a consumer destination. Retail customers access Rothera through intermediaries including FCMs and introducing brokers, which maintain the direct customer relationship and handle customer onboarding, support and education, and primary compliance screening.
Event contracts are financial contracts whose value depends on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or outcome of a defined event or contingency. They enable market participants to express views on future outcomes and can provide transparent signals of market expectations about the probability of the outcome of those events.
Event contracts are tied to clearly defined outcomes and settlement criteria. On Rothera, buyers and sellers transact with one another through a central limit order book, with prices determined by market participants rather than set by the exchange. Rothera lists contracts that settle using objective, publicly verifiable information.
Event contracts can be used to express views on future outcomes, manage discrete event-driven risks, and generate market-based information about expectations. For investors and businesses, they can provide targeted mitigants to risks that may be difficult to isolate through more generalized financial instruments.
Rothera develops event contract markets tied to clearly defined, objectively measurable outcomes. Current and planned areas of focus include sporting, economic and financial, political, and other real-world events. New contracts are added through Rothera’s disciplined listing review and self certification process. For more information on our event contracts, view our product filings or set up a conversation.
Prices on Rothera are determined by market participants with price formation through a central limit order book. Rothera does not set prices or odds; buyers and sellers submit orders, and market prices emerge from trading activity on the venue.
Rothera is a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, not a sportsbook. Sportsbooks set odds and act as the counterparty to customer point-in-time wagers; on Rothera, buyers and sellers transact multilaterally with one another, and market participants – not the exchange – determine prices. Event contracts traded on Rothera are swaps that can be continuously traded up until settlement.
Yes. Rothera’s exchange matches both retail and institutional order flow in a multilateral (all-to-all) central limit order book. However, Rothera does not serve retail customers directly. Retail orders reach the exchange through intermediaries, while institutional and professional market participants can participate directly subject to the applicable eligibility and access requirements.
FCMs can connect to Rothera to offer event contract access to their customers while preserving their existing customer relationships, brands, and business models. Rothera supports conventional FCM workflows, including FIX connectivity, administrative interfaces, file-based processes, reference data, and funding workflows. To learn more, visit our Solutions page or contact us.
Professional market makers can provide liquidity on Rothera’s central limit order book for retail and institutional order flow. Participants in Rothera’s formal market-making program must meet applicable eligibility requirements, enter into a market-making agreement and continuously satisfy established quoting commitments. To learn more, visit our Solutions page or contact us.
Rothera supports standard FIX API connectivity for order entry and market data, along with integrations via third-party independent software vendors (ISVs). The venue also supports established and conventional workflows including administrative interfaces, SFTP file access, reference-data access, and funding through wire and real-time payment capabilities.
Rothera supports continuous 24/7 trading, subject to scheduled maintenance. The current weekly maintenance window is Thursday from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Central Time. Trades executed after 4 p.m. Central Time are included in reports for the following trade date.
Rothera makes regulatory notices, participant agreements, and other legal and regulatory information available on our Legal page. Market participants can also access reference data and other information related to Rothera’s listed products through the venue’s established market data and operational channels.
Rothera is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as both a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO). As a regulated exchange and clearinghouse, Rothera operates within the framework of the Commodity Exchange Act and applicable CFTC Core Principles.
Rothera’s Designated Contract Market registration authorizes it to operate a regulated derivatives exchange, while its Derivatives Clearing Organization registration covers the clearing of transactions executed through the venue. Together, these registrations enable Rothera to combine event contract trading and clearing within a single regulated platform.
Rothera takes a disciplined approach to product development selectively choosing which contracts to list, and which not to list. Potential contracts are evaluated for regulatory compliance, market integrity, liquidity, susceptibility to manipulation, and reputational considerations. Rothera prioritizes contracts with clear, objective settlement criteria and avoids products that could undermine confidence in the venue or the broader event contract ecosystem.
As a regulated exchange and self-regulatory organization, Rothera is responsible for surveilling its markets and maintaining market integrity. Rothera maintains dedicated surveillance capabilities to identify suspicious or anomalous activity and can investigate potential violations, request information through participating intermediaries and take enforcement action under its rulebook, including referring matters to the CFTC where appropriate.
Rothera seeks to eliminate settlement ambiguity before a contract is listed through clearly defined settlement criteria. Contracts are designed around objective, unambiguous, and publicly verifiable settlement sources, with Rothera’s rulebook governing the outcome in the event of an operational issue or dispute.
Rothera’s intermediary-focused model creates a clear division of responsibilities. Participating FCMs and introducing brokers handle direct customer onboarding and primary KYC and compliance screening for their end users, while direct institutional participants such as market makers must satisfy applicable eligibility requirements, including beneficial ownership requirements. Rothera itself remains responsible for meeting the regulatory and compliance obligations applicable to its exchange and clearinghouse.