Polymarket is poised to become officially licensed in the United States after purchasing the QCX exchange. QCX, a small derivatives exchange, was recently licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The acquisition was first reported by Bloomberg. Polymarket announced Monday that it had paid $112 million for the exchange.
One source with knowledge of prediction markets told Front Office Sports that he believes this acquisition also would set the stage for Polymarket to operate in the United States on U.S. dollars as opposed to on crypto blockchain, as QCX is traditionally set up.
The news comes less than a week after Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan announced that the firm had been “been cleared of any wrongdoing” in a federal investigation.
“We are 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 said in a company release Monday.
Prediction markets continue to gain steam in the U.S. Last week, FOS reported that the sportsbook DraftKings is in talks to acquire Railbird Exchange, another exchange recently licensed by the CFTC.
Kalshi has gained market share in sports betting over the past several months, in part through a partnership with Robinhood. State regulators have been seeking to block Kalshi via a number of lawsuits, but so far Kalshi has had early victories and continues to operate.
This breaking news story has been updated.
