Intercontinental Exchange Backs Polymarket in $9B Valuation Move

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, just made one of the boldest moves in crypto’s short history, investing $2 billion in Polymarket, the prediction market platform shaking up decentralized finance.

The deal marks the largest private funding round ever in crypto, valuing Polymarket at a staggering $9 billion post-money, according to CEO Shayne Coplan.

“Our partnership with ICE marks a major step in bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream,” Coplan shared on X. “It’s also a monumental step forward for DeFi.”

Polymarket was born from a simple but powerful idea, markets are better at finding truth than headlines or polls. Since launching in 2020, the platform has allowed users to bet on real-world outcomes, from elections to inflation data, and in doing so, has turned public curiosity into liquidity.

Now, with ICE’s backing, Polymarket is moving from crypto’s edge into the global financial core. The collaboration will bring prediction market data to thousands of institutional desks worldwide, leveraging ICE’s global distribution network.

In other words: prediction markets are about to meet Wall Street.

“There’s so much to build when you combine ICE’s institutional scale and credibility with Polymarket’s cultural reach,” Coplan said.

A Bridge Between Wall Street and DeFi

ICE’s track record speaks for itself. The company revolutionized global commodity and energy markets with digital trading in the early 2000s, then reshaped global equities by acquiring the New York Stock Exchange.

Now it’s turning its eyes to on-chain markets.

By investing directly in Polymarket, ICE is not just backing a product, it’s signaling that tokenized information markets may play a central role in the next financial era.

This partnership goes beyond capital. It represents the fusion of Wall Street infrastructure and Web3 innovation, combining institutional scale with DeFi’s open systems.

The Road from Idea to Revolution

In a personal reflection post on X, Shayne Coplan shared how Polymarket’s journey almost didn’t happen.

“At the onset of the pandemic, I had nothing to lose,” he wrote. “I was 21, running out of money, two and a half years since I dropped out, and nothing to show for it.”

Driven by the belief that prediction markets could uncover truth in a chaotic information age, Coplan persisted, even when most dismissed the concept as too risky or niche.

“It’s funny because it’s a rare case where the dream turned out exactly like how I imagined it,” he wrote. “Entrepreneurship is about willing things into existence.”

From DeFi Write-Off to $9B Vision

Polymarket’s early days weren’t glamorous. It faced skepticism from regulators and traditional investors alike. But over time, the platform’s precision in tracking real-world sentiment, and its uncanny accuracy during major global events, drew attention.

By 2024, Polymarket was quietly processing millions in weekly volume, becoming a favorite data source for journalists and hedge funds alike.

According to CoinMarketCap, the platform’s native token and related prediction market ecosystem saw over $500 million in total value locked by Q3 2025, an extraordinary climb for a niche protocol once written off as “experimental.”

ICE’s $2B injection now propels that growth into a new league.

Mainstream Adoption on the Horizon

ICE’s involvement doesn’t just add legitimacy, it adds distribution. The company confirmed it will begin distributing Polymarket data across its global network of financial institutions, from investment banks to asset managers.

This move places prediction markets in the same data feeds as equities, commodities, and bonds, effectively mainstreaming decentralized truth markets.

Polymarket’s model, using market incentives to forecast outcomes, could soon power financial products, risk management tools, and even corporate decision-making.

It’s a step toward a financial system that prizes accuracy and transparency over noise.

 A New Era of Tokenized Markets

The ICE-Polymarket partnership also underscores the growing momentum behind tokenization, the process of representing real-world assets on-chain.

With ICE’s infrastructure and NYSE’s reputation, Polymarket could soon pioneer regulated, tokenized derivatives tied to prediction outcomes.

If successful, it might open the door for an entirely new asset class, “truth-backed” financial instruments, blending market speculation with verifiable event data.

Coplan ended his post with a note of gratitude.

“To our users, builders, and community who have been with us since 2020, your support will not be forgotten,” he said. “I’m living my wildest dreams, seemingly against all odds.”

From an ambitious idea born in a pandemic apartment to a $9B partnership with Wall Street’s most powerful exchange, Polymarket’s rise is one of crypto’s most improbable success stories.

And now, with ICE’s backing, the platform is no longer a prediction, it’s the future of financial truth.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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