Polymarket is operated by Blockratize Inc., a Delaware-registered company. The international platform runs through a related entity called Adventure One Ltd, incorporated in Panama. The US platform operates as QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US.
The founder and CEO is Shayne Coplan. Here’s the full story.
Shayne Coplan: The Founder
Shayne Coplan was born in 1998 in New York City. He developed an early interest in financial markets — at age 14, after reading Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys, he wrote an email to the SEC about high-frequency trading practices.
Coplan studied computer science at NYU but dropped out to pursue Polymarket full-time. He and a small founding team started the company in what he described as a converted bathroom office in New York.
Polymarket launched in June 2020 with a straightforward premise: let anyone trade on real-world events using a decentralized prediction market.
Funding History
Polymarket has raised more funding than any other prediction market by a significant margin.
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Aug 2020 | $4M | Union Square Ventures, Polychain Capital |
| Series A | Mar 2022 | $25M | Founders Fund, Dragonfly Capital |
| Series B | May 2023 | $45M | Founders Fund |
| Series C | Nov 2024 | $150M | Y Combinator Continuity, Polychain Capital |
| Strategic | Oct 2025 | $2B | Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) |
| Follow-on | Mar 2026 | $600M | ICE-led |
| Total | ~$2.8B+ |
The October 2025 investment from Intercontinental Exchange — the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange — valued Polymarket at approximately $9 billion. It was a watershed moment for the prediction markets industry: the world’s largest exchange operator betting that event-based trading is a durable market category.
The CFTC Settlement (2022)
In January 2022, Polymarket settled with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $1.4 million. The CFTC alleged that Polymarket had operated an unregistered swap execution facility, making its binary event contracts available to US users without proper regulatory approval.
Polymarket settled without admitting wrongdoing. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to block users in the United States — restrictions that remain in place on the international platform today.
The fine was relatively modest given Polymarket’s trading volumes, and the company continued operating internationally without interruption.
The Path Back to the US Market
After the CFTC settlement, Polymarket spent years navigating a path to legal US re-entry.
In July 2025, Polymarket acquired QCEX (also known as “QCX”) for approximately $112 million. QCEX held a CFTC-licensed exchange designation — specifically the same regulatory structure used by competitor Kalshi. The acquisition gave Polymarket the regulatory infrastructure to legally offer prediction markets to US customers.
The US platform relaunched on December 2, 2025, initially as an invite-only sports prediction app. It operates separately from the international platform with its own markets, liquidity, and fee structure.
The two platforms are not connected. Positions, balances, and accounts are completely separate.
Business Model
Polymarket earns revenue from trading fees.
The fee structure has evolved significantly:
- 2020–2024: Minimal or zero fees while building market share
- 2025: Zero fees maintained through most of the year to compete with Kalshi’s US relaunch
- March 30, 2026: Taker fees broadly introduced across the international platform
Current taker fees vary by market category, with max fees ranging from $0.75 to $1.80 per 100 shares. Geopolitical markets are fee-free. Makers (traders who add liquidity) pay zero fees and receive rebates. The full fee breakdown is covered in the Polymarket Fees article.
Scale and Metrics
As of early 2026, Polymarket is the dominant prediction market globally by trading volume:
- Cumulative trading volume: Billions of dollars since launch
- Peak activity: 2024 US presidential election period saw record daily volumes
- Markets: Hundreds of active markets at any time, spanning politics, sports, crypto, finance, economics, culture, and tech
- Countries: Available in 160+ countries (blocked in approximately 34)
- Blockchain: Polygon (Ethereum Layer 2)
- Settlement currency: USDC
How Polymarket is Different From a Casino or Sportsbook
Polymarket holds no positions. It does not bet against its users. Unlike a sportsbook that sets odds to ensure a margin, Polymarket is a two-sided marketplace — all trading happens between users, and Polymarket earns only the fee on each transaction.
This structure means Polymarket’s revenue scales with trading volume, not with user losses. A profitable Polymarket user is not a cost to the company — they’re a source of more trading.
The Broader Polymarket Ecosystem
Polymarket’s contracts run on the Polygon blockchain using the Conditional Token Framework (CTF) — an open-source smart contract standard. This means:
- Positions are recorded on-chain, not in Polymarket’s database
- The CTF contracts are publicly verifiable
- Third-party tools can read positions and liquidities directly from the blockchain
- In principle, positions can be held and traded outside the Polymarket interface
Outcome resolution uses the UMA Optimistic Oracle — an independent protocol where anyone can propose and dispute market outcomes. Polymarket does not unilaterally decide results; the oracle system does. For a full explanation, see How Polymarket Markets Resolve.
Learn More
- What is Polymarket? — How the platform works
- How Markets Resolve on Polymarket — UMA oracle resolution explained
- Polymarket Fees Explained — Complete fee breakdown
- Polymarket Review 2026 — Full in-depth review
- Is Polymarket Available in Your Country? — Check your location