Market prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are reportedly exploring new fundraising rounds that could value the companies at around $20 billion, roughly doubling their last valuation.
Both platforms have held preliminary discussions with potential investors about raising new capital at a high cost, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report noted that negotiations remain at an early stage and may not lead to a deal or secure a target price.
Kalshi currently operates in the United States and offers markets that allow users to bet on outcomes related to sports, politics, economics, and cultural events. The company was last valued at about $11 billion in December, when it raised $1 billion from investors including Paradigm and Sequoia Capital.
Founded in 2018 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopez Lara, Kalshi received approval from the Property Futures Trading Commission in 2020 to operate as a regulated exchange for event-based markets. The platform has since expanded rapidly and recently surpassed the $1 billion revenue mark, with some estimates putting the number closer to $1.5 billion.
related to: Kalshi, Polymarket faces out of business after Nevada court ruling
Polymarket plans to launch in the US later this year
Polymarket, which was launched in 2020 by Shane Coplan, remains inaccessible to US users without a virtual private network, but plans to introduce a domestically configured version of its platform later this year. The company was valued at about $9 billion in October after Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to invest $2 billion.
Both platforms have attracted the attention of lawmakers and regulators. As Cointelegraph reported, US Democratic lawmakers are drafting legislation to regulate the prediction markets after questionable bets on the timing of US and Israeli attacks on Iran raised domestic trading concerns.
Senator Chris Murphy claimed that people close to the White House may have taken advantage of advance warning of the attack to place bets, noting that several Polymarket accounts reportedly won nearly $1 million in betting hours before the blasts were reported in Tehran.
related to: The founder of Kalshi provides information about the circulation of the Khamenei market in Iran
Polymarket faces insider trading allegations
Polymarket has been hit with allegations of insider trading after several traders placed unusually well-timed bets on major events. A small group of crypto wallets recently bet more than $1.2 million on the market linked to onchain research into the DeFi platform Axiom, shortly before blockchain researcher ZachXBT published allegations of insider trading related to the project.
In a separate incident last month, another Polymarket account was reported to have won nearly $400,000 after placing a large bet on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shortly before the news broke, raising questions about whether some traders had prior knowledge.
Magazine: Bitcoin May Take 7 Years to Upgrade to Post-Quantum – BIP-360 co-author
