Prediction market Polymarket has taken the world by storm and is currently disrupting the sports betting sector. With a new investment from New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), the company’s founder has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
What Happened: Intercontinental Exchange’s $2 billion investment values Polymarket at $8 billion, making founder Shayne Coplan a billionaire.
The 27-year-old New York University dropout has recently shared on social media how far he and his company have come in several years to reach the milestones.
Coplan started exploring ideas of prediction markets based on thoughts from economist Robin Hanson, back in 2019. He built Polymarket and launched the prediction market company in June 2020, as reported by Bloomberg.
Polymarket is one of multiple prediction markets that are utilizing cryptocurrency to allow consumers to place wagers on outcomes like the presidential election, sporting events and when the government shutdown will end.
The company and Coplan have come a long way in their journey to mass adoption.
“2020, running out of money, solo founder, HQ in my makeshift bathroom office. Little did I know Polymarket was going to change the world,” Coplan recently tweeted.
Coplan said the Polymarket story is “against all odds.”
The Polymarket founder said he has learned that bold ideas are everywhere, sometimes “hidden in plain sight.”
“It just takes someone crazy enough to spend their life willing it into existence. That’s entrepreneurship: willing things into existence.”
Coplan said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he “had nothing to lose” as a 21-year-old college dropout running out of money and with little to show for it.
Read Also: Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan Defends Platform, Calls It A ‘Reality Check’ Amid Rising Scrutiny
What’s Next: In a post about the funding from Intercontinental Exchange, Coplan looks to the future of the prediction market sector.
“Our partnership with ICE marks a major step in bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream. But in addition to that, it’s a monumental step forward for DeFi.”
Coplan said the partnership could help “usher in a new financial era of tokenization.”
Polymarket has been unavailable to U.S. users, but that is expected to change soon with the acquisition of QCEX, an exchange licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Coplan said recently that Polymarket has been approved for operation in the U.S. by the CFTC.
The company previously paid a $1.4 million penalty to settle with the CFTC regarding its U.S. users. The FBI raided Coplan’s home days after the 2024 presidential election over allegations of U.S. users being allowed on Polymarket. The company said the raid was “political retribution.”
Along with the Intercontinental Exchange, other investors in Polymarket include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Blockchain Capital and 1789 Capital. The company counts Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, as an advisor.
Read Next:
2028 Election Odds Out From Polymarket: Vance Tops List At 27%, Trump Has 5%, Here’s What Voters Say In New Poll
Photo: PJ McDonnell / Shutterstock.com