Regulation

Vitalik Buterin, Founders Fund Back Polymarket in $45 Million Funding Round

Published

11 months ago

May 14, 2024

Coin2049 Newsletter

Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market platform, has raised $45 million in its recent Series B funding round. The round was supported by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, and other key investors like 1confirmation, ParaFi, and Dragonfly Capital.

This finance brings Polymarket’s total to almost $75 million, which is the result of the $25 million raised in Series A and the $4 million raised in the seed round in 2020.

Major Investors Support Polymarket

Polymarket has received a lot of investment from high-profile investors, although it is now facing increased attention from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U. S. regulator. Shayne Coplan, the founder and CEO of Polymarket, said that the investment round was led by Founders Fund.

The money will be used for the further development and expansion of the platform, which has recently become very active as the U. S. presidential election approaches. Nevertheless, the actual sum for Polymarket in this deal was kept a secret.

Decentralized prediction market Polymarket completed a $45 million Series B round of financing, led by Founders Fund. Polymarket has raised a total of $70 million in two rounds of funding, with backers including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. However, it has also been…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 14, 2024

The platform runs by permitting users to bet on the results of real-world events, from political elections to changes in regulations that affect cryptocurrencies. For instance, one of the most famous contracts on Polymarket right now is asking if the SEC will approve a spot exchange-traded fund for Ethereum by the end of the month, and the market predictions are pricing this possibility at 45%.

Expansion and Operational Strategy

As part of its plan to deal with the regulations and enlarge its market area, Polymarket has just hired Richard Jaycobs to be the head of market expansion. Jaycobs is well experienced in traditional finance (tradfi) firms, and he has the roles of the president of the Cantor Exchange and the CEO of The Clearing Corporation.

This action by Polymarket is a sign that the company is going to strengthen its operational framework and also expand its user base beyond the U. S. market in the face of previous penalties and settlements with the CFTC.

The Polymarket platform has already enabled more than $170 million in bets, especially in the U. S. presidential elections. This proves not only the platform’s ability to get a large number of users to be active but also its ability to produce more trustworthy forecasts and insights into public opinion compared to traditional polling methods.

Financial Outlook and Prospects

Although the regulatory bodies are the main hindrances of Polymarket´s growth, the company keeps on looking for ways to expand, especially in the international markets where the regulatory environment is more lenient.

Despite the fact that the company’s last financing round estimated it at a value that was lower than the anticipated $1 billion, it is now in a position to possibly regain and even exceed its previous valuation as it adjusts to the changing environment.

Going forward, Polymarket plans to leverage blockchain technology and stablecoins like USDC to handle transactions, which could streamline operations and reduce reliance on traditional financial systems.