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Polymarket has snapped up a new US options exchange just days after regulators dropped an investigation into the online prediction platform, clearing the way for its expansion and access to the US market.
Polymarket, which describes itself as the world’s largest prediction market, on Monday said it had acquired Florida-based derivatives exchange QCX and affiliated clearinghouse QC Clearing — together known as QCEX — for $112mn.
The purchase “marks a significant step toward expanding” Polymarket into the US, said founder and chief executive Shayne Coplan.
Polymarket exploded in popularity ahead of last November’s US presidential election, attracting billions of dollars in trades, but has officially been blocked to US users since 2022. Global users had made about $6bn in predictions on political developments, pop culture events and sports on the platform so far this year, the company said.
The Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched an investigation into Polymarket in the days after Donald Trump’s election victory, focusing on whether the platform facilitated bets by people in the US. Coplan’s home was raided by the FBI in November as part of the inquiry, but he said publicly this month that the inquiry had been closed.
The Trump administration has been more open to prediction market betting, with Brian Quintenz, his nominee to lead the CFTC, previously having served on the board of Polymarket’s rival, Kalshi. Donald Trump Jr. is an adviser to Kalshi. Kalshi won a court ruling last year allowing users to bet on prediction outcomes.
US regulators have expressed willingness to allow prediction markets as long as they operate on licensed platforms. The QCX deal gives Polymarket a regulated US entity to begin offering contract betting in the US.
Headquartered in Boca Raton, QCX only received its licence to operate as a contract market in early July. It first applied to the CFTC for a licence in June 2022.
The acquisition of QCX was “laying the foundation to bring Polymarket home — re-entering the US as a fully regulated and compliant platform that will allow Americans to trade their opinions”, Coplan added on Monday.
“Shayne has built a cultural phenomenon in Polymarket,” said Sergei Dobrovolskii, founder of QCEX. “I am excited to bring our companies together and leverage our licences, technology, and expertise in the retail trading sector to help Polymarket reach its full potential.”
Polymarket in June announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s X, saying X’s Grok chatbot would provide users with “contextualised, data-driven insights”.
Additional reporting by Aiden Reiter
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