NYSE Owner Invests Billions Into Prediction Market Platform Polymarket

Prediction market Polymarket is poised to return to the US market and has the confidence of Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, which is investing billions in the trading platform.

Polymarket Attracts Big Bucks

The company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (listed as ICE on the NYSE), has announced an investment of up to $2 billion in the futures trading platform. Polymarket left the US market in 2022 and paid a fine of $1.4 million after it was found in violation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proper registration policies.

However, much has happened between then and now.

Kalshi recently announced its return to the US market after purchasing a smaller derivatives company, QCEX, for $112 million, allowing it to operate in all 50 states and begin venturing into the sports event trading arena.

This recent acquisition attracted the interest of ICE, which invested nearly $2 billion in Polymarket, for an estimated valuation of $8 billion.

This is good news for Polymarket’s future and portends a positive outcome for trading platforms that are under siege by state gaming regulators who oppose them trading sports event contracts in their states without a state license.

Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said, “Our investment blends ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, which was founded in 1792, with a forward-thinking, revolutionary company pioneering change within the Decentralized Finance space. Shayne Coplan has assembled a team at Polymarket to create a user-driven company relentlessly focused on product, building usage, and distribution.

“There are opportunities across markets which ICE, together with Polymarket, can uniquely serve, and we are excited about where this investment can take us.”

QCEX Will Allow Access

Historically, derivative trading platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi attracted commodities speculators who would take out contracts on gold, silver, and any other commodity listed on the exchange. It operated like buying a stock; only there is a definitive end to a contract, unlike stocks that can be held forever.

However, the trading platforms began offering contracts on US elections, something sportsbooks are prohibited from doing, and then began to wander into the world of sports, offering trading contracts on the outcome of the Super Bowl last February.

This has wrought a blizzard of legal challenges by sports betting industry stakeholders that market leader, Kalshi, has successfully weathered so far, contending they are governed by the CFTC and not the state, which allows them to operate unfettered in all 50 states.

Now that Polymarket has acquired a CFTC-licensed company in the form of QCEX, the company is poised to reenter the US market and begin trading sports event contracts. Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan believes this jolt of capital will propel his company to greater heights in partnership with ICE.

“Our partnership with ICE marks a major step in bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream,” Coplan said. “Together, we’re expanding how individuals and institutions use probabilities to understand and price the future. Jeff and his team have redefined how modern markets operate, establishing ICE as the gold standard for trusted financial infrastructure.

“By combining ICE’s institutional scale and credibility with Polymarket’s consumer savvy, we will be able to deliver world-class products for the modern investor. Realizing the potential of new technologies, such as tokenization, will require collaboration between established market leaders and next-generation innovators. We couldn’t be more excited to build together.”