Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is in advanced talks to invest $2 billion in Polymarket in a deal that could value the company between $8 billion and $10 billion. A deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday, although details remain undecided, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Shortly after the news, Polymarket confirmed ICE’s investment in its prediction market through an X post. “We are excited to announce that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — the parent company of @NYSE is making a $2b strategic investment at a $9b post-money valuation,” the company wrote.
The investment follows months of fundraising chatter. In September, The Block reported Polymarket was weighing a financing round at a $9–$10 billion valuation while rival Kalshi was close to raising at around $5 billion. Polymarket has been preparing for a broader U.S. rollout after striking a deal to acquire derivatives venue QCEX this summer, and later saying it could go live in the United States following CFTC action.
The platform has expanded its product set since the July acquisition, including launching company-earnings forecasting markets, and more recently, adding bitcoin deposits to broaden funding options. An investment from one of the world’s leading exchange operators—worth more than $90 billion by market value—would bolster Polymarket’s credibility as it pushes to establish a U.S. presence.
Polymarket’s Polygon-based prediction platform lets users trade on real-world events by buying and selling yes/no shares priced from $0 to $1. Winning shares settle at $1 USDC upon resolution. The markets encompass areas such as politics, macroeconomics, cryptocurrency, and culture, and have become a high-frequency barometer for rapidly moving news. Once finalized, ICE’s backing would collide two worlds—TradFi exchange infrastructure and crypto-native prediction rails—just as regulated competitors like Kalshi scale up
