Polymarket

What Polymarket does

Polymarket operates a blockchain-based prediction market platform where users trade contracts on the outcomes of real-world events — elections, sports, geopolitics, crypto prices, and pop culture — with prices between 0 and 100 cents representing implied probability. The platform runs on the Polygon network, uses USDC (and its own pUSD stablecoin, which has surpassed $500M in market value with over 1 million holders) as collateral, and resolves markets via UMA's Optimistic Oracle with a challenge window for disputes. The company maintains two distinct operating entities: a CFTC-regulated US exchange called Polymarket US, operated by QCX LLC as a Designated Contract Market, and a separate international DeFi platform at polymarket.com not regulated by the CFTC. Supporting products include a Leaderboard, accuracy metrics, a Rewards program with $50 signup bonuses, and Polysights for AI-powered insider-trading detection.

The business model is a pure transaction-fee take rate on trades across sports, political, crypto, and entertainment event contracts. Over the past year Polymarket has scaled aggressively on event-driven catalysts — particularly the 2024 US elections and the 2026 FIFA World Cup (which alone generated $3.3B+ in volume) — with annualized revenue surpassing $1 billion about six weeks after removing the US waitlist, and daily US trading volume growing from ~$50M in mid-May to over $200M by late June 2026. Go-to-market blends mobile-first product-led growth (60% of World Cup bettors were first-time crypto users), community-led acquisition via Discord/X/TikTok, referral bonuses, and media partnerships with outlets including the New York Post and Fox Sports. The firm has raised $2B from Intercontinental Exchange plus additional venture rounds at valuations reaching $18-20B, and has executed four acquisitions (QCEX, Dome, Brahma, Craft Agents) within roughly twelve months to expand regulatory reach, developer APIs, DeFi infrastructure, and AI-agent capabilities.

Customers are predominantly retail — 1.35 million active users globally, mostly retail crypto users, sports bettors, and election traders — with early institutional traction through ICE's distribution of Polymarket Signals and Sentiment. The company faces active regulatory scrutiny, including an ongoing CFTC investigation into paid social-media influencer practices, a consumer-protection lawsuit from the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and a disclosed $3.1M user-fund security breach via a compromised third-party vendor.

Name

Polymarket

Legal name

Adventure One QSS Inc.

Website

https://polymarket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Polymarket operates a blockchain-based, real-money prediction market on the Polygon network where users trade event-outcome contracts across sports, politics, and crypto, and runs a separate CFTC-regulated US exchange (QCX LLC) alongside its international DeFi platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prediction Markets

NAICS

Commodity Contracts Intermediation (52316)

SIC

Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers (6221)

akta.pro primary industry

Prediction Markets & Event Derivatives (Crypto) (FSADAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Vertical/Specialty Marketplaces (BPAMAGAB)

Keywords

• Prediction market
• Event contracts
• Blockchain trading
• Market forecasting
• Decentralized exchange

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Trading/Transaction Fees: Platform generates revenue through fees on prediction market trades. Annualized revenue surpassed $1 billion driven by World Cup activity and US exchange launch. Trading volume surged from $50M/day in mid-May to over $200M/day by June 20.
2. Sports Contract Trading: Major revenue stream from sports prediction contracts, particularly during FIFA World Cup events. Sports contracts contribute majority of fee-generating volume.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Polymarket is a blockchain-based prediction market platform where users trade on the outcomes of real-world events. It operates as a marketplace where participants buy and sell shares representing probabilistic views on future events such as elections, economic indicators, and current affairs. The platform aggregates crowd-sourced sentiment into tradable prices that function as real-time probability estimates.

Product overview

Polymarket is a crypto-based prediction market platform operating as a single unified product with supporting modules and sub-products. The core platform enables users to trade on real-world event outcomes with prices reflecting implied probability, built on Polygon blockchain using USDC with a separate CFTC-regulated US entity (QCX LLC). The product portfolio includes acquired technologies: Brahma for DeFi infrastructure, Dome for unified API connectivity, and Craft Agents for AI agent capabilities. Supporting modules include pUSD stablecoin, rewards program, leaderboard, and accuracy metrics. The platform is complemented by Polysights, an AI-powered insider trading detection tool.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Polymarket Prediction Market Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Annualized revenue exceeded $1 billion within 6 weeks of US exchange launch
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• New York PostminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2026Media partnership with New York Post for World Cup knockout prediction campaign, publishing promotional codes offering users bonus funds.
• Fox SportsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2026Media partnership with Fox Sports for World Cup promotional campaigns.
• Meta (Arena Partnership Exploration)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed team to explore partnerships with Polymarket and Kalshi as Meta develops its own Arena prediction market app. Discussions remain exploratory.
• KrakenminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2026Kraken named Official Crypto Exchange Supporter for FIFA World Cup 2026, running fan activations across 16 host cities in US, Canada, and Mexico.
• Brahma (Acquired)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2026Polymarket acquired Brahma, a crypto and DeFi infrastructure company that has processed over $1 billion in transactions. The acquisition aims to address liquidity imbalance and improve how liquidity is distributed across markets.
• QCEX (Acquired)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2026Polymarket acquired QCEX, a US-licensed derivatives exchange, to facilitate reentrance into the US market following regulatory issues with the CFTC. QCX LLC now operates Polymarket US as a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market.
• Dome (Acquired)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2026Polymarket acquired Dome, a Y Combinator-backed prediction market API startup that provides a unified API connecting platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi to developers. Dome had raised $4.7 million in seed funding.
• World (Worldcoin)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2025OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's World (formerly Worldcoin) integrated Polymarket into its World App with over 100 million downloads, allowing users in permitted regions to bet with USDC and Worldcoin tokens.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• Kalshi: Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market offering event-contract prediction markets directly competing with Polymarket US in sports, politics, and economic events. Both target US retail and institutional traders with regulated binary-outcome trading.
• PredictIt: PredictIt is a CFTC-licensed (formerly) political prediction market platform offering real-money trading on election and policy outcomes. It is a direct vertical competitor in the political prediction market segment that Polymarket serves.

Broad incumbents

• DraftKings: DraftKings is a major US sports betting and daily fantasy operator with broad consumer brand recognition. It represents the incumbent sportsbook category that prediction markets are increasingly converging with, particularly in sports event contracts.
• FanDuel: FanDuel is a leading US online sportsbook and prediction-adjacent gaming platform owned by Flutter Entertainment. It is a broad incumbent in the sports/event betting category that overlaps with Polymarket's sports prediction markets.
• Betfair Exchange: Betfair operates one of the world's largest betting exchanges with peer-to-peer event contracts across sports and politics. It is a broad incumbent exchange-based platform serving the same event-outcome trading use case as Polymarket.

Emerging players

• Augur: Augur is a decentralized, Ethereum-based prediction market protocol. It is an emerging crypto-native competitor with overlapping DeFi prediction market mechanics, though it lacks Polymarket's scale, liquidity, and US regulatory license.
• Limitless Labs: Limitless is a Base-based crypto prediction market platform targeting similar crypto-native retail traders. It is an emerging competitor in the on-chain prediction market niche with comparable market mechanics but smaller liquidity.
• Meta (Arena): Meta is developing its own prediction market product ("Arena") and has explored partnerships with Polymarket and Kalshi. It is a potential emerging entrant that could leverage Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp distribution to reach prediction market users at unprecedented scale.

Others

• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE): ICE is the NYSE parent and a $2B strategic investor in Polymarket with exclusive data distribution rights. As an infrastructure partner and capital provider, ICE is an enabler rather than a competitor, but its strategic positioning gives it material influence over Polymarket's institutional roadmap.
• UMA Protocol: UMA provides the Optimistic Oracle that Polymarket uses for market resolution. As an enabling infrastructure provider in the prediction market stack, UMA is a critical technology partner whose oracle design underpins Polymarket's dispute resolution mechanism.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/polymarket
• Instagraminstagram.com/polymarket
• TikToktiktok.com/@polymarket
• Facebookfacebook.com/PolymarketHQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/polymarket

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds13 records

Investors31 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Polymarket