Polymarket is in talks to raise $400 million at a post-money valuation of about $15 billion, according to Bloomberg. Last month, Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, invested $600 million as part of a larger agreement to commit up to $2 billion.
Polymarket is seeking additional strategic investors, and the total round could reach $1 billion. The $15 billion valuation is higher than the $9 billion at the time of ICE’s October 2025 investment, but it is still below Kalshi’s recent $22 billion valuation.
Shayne Coplan founded Polymarket in June 2020 at age 22, building the first version on his own during the New York pandemic lockdown. Coplan, who studied computer science at NYU, reached out to the SEC at 14 and bought Ethereum when it was $0.30 per token. After ICE’s first investment in October 2025, Bloomberg reported that ICE had become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Early backers included Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Founders Fund, and Polychain Capital.
Polymarket runs on the Polygon blockchain and uses smart contracts to settle trades in USDC. Users can buy YES or NO tokens at real-world events such as elections, sports, economic indicators, and cryptocurrency price movements. The prices change based on the crowd’s predictions.
Polymarket’s main competitor is Kalshi, which raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation earlier this year and leads the US market with annual revenues of about $1.5 billion. Analysts say the valuation difference stems from Kalshi’s head start in the US, since Polymarket only recently began serving American customers and charging fees.
Charles Schwab and Nasdaq are also entering the prediction market space, indicating that the sector is becoming more mainstream. Both Polymarket and Kalshi still face regulatory hurdles, including Nevada’s ban on Kalshi and lawsuits from state attorneys general over gambling regulations.
Polymarket is thinking about going public. The new funding will help with product development, expansion in the US, and international growth. With support from ICE’s network, Polymarket wants to become a real-time information market for institutional clients.
