NYSE parent company makes $2B investment in Polymarket, at over $8B valuation

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has finalized talks to invest $2B into Polymarket. The deal valued the prediction platform between $8B and $10B. 

Shayne Coplan, the founder of Polymarket, officially announced the deal that saw Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) commit $2B into Polymarket.  

The involvement of ICE, one of the world’s leading exchange operators, grants greater legitimacy to Polymarket. The deal consideration will be paid in cash, announced the ICE. On its side, the exchange will start distributing Polymarket data driven by event outcomes, as well as sentiment indicators. 

“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,” said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chair & Chief Executive Officer. 

“Shayne Coplan has assembled a team at Polymarket to create a user-driven company relentlessly focused on product, building usage and distribution,” said Sprecher.

The platform has been preparing for a return to the USA market, where predictions are considered a form of trading rather than betting. As Cryptopolitan reported, the return of Polymarket was expected to happen as early as October 7.

The deal could solidify Polymarket’s position on the market, as the platform gains importance in predictions for current events and market movements. The platform also improved its standing with regulators under Donald Trump’s administration. 

The partnership grants some clarity on a potential Polymarket valuation. The platform has been considering either a token airdrop, token sale, or even an IPO in 2026.

So far, Polymarket continues as a tokenless platform, still utilizing Polygon, an early L2 chain. The tentative valuation boosts the opportunities for a token valuation, as Polymarket has been one of the best product-market fits in the crypto space, rising from a small app created during the 2020 bear market. 

Polymarket open interest reaches one-year peak

Polymarket open interest has been recovering slowly after the November 2024 record. After dropping to around $110M in early 2025, open interest started recovering slowly. On October 5, Polymarket registered a six-month trading volume record, with over $89M in daily activity.

In the past quarter, the growth accelerated and open interest grew from local lows of $105M up to over $172M. The past year saw a shift in the type of predictions, along with an inflow of newly created wallets. Recently, Polymarket also rolled out BTC deposits to expand its user base, as Cryptopolitan reported. 

The past few months saw significant growth in current event predictions. Polymarket is now trying to make prediction resolutions more transparent and avoid market manipulation or flawed oracles.

Polymarket aims to present its service as a form of trading

Polymarket holds onto its image as a trading platform, doubling as a venue for predicting asset prices. Pairs exist for gold, BTC and other assets, as well as general economic trends. 

Polymarket still mostly relies on viral issues for its trending pairs and the biggest share of volumes. While Kalshi has been catching up with the market leader, most of the additional volumes are from sports predictions. Polymarket’s categories remain unique, combining news outcomes and social media influence. 

Polymarket still has multiple reported inefficiencies. Prediction pairs often overlap, allowing opportunities for arbitrage.

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