NYSE Owner Eyes Massive $2B Stake in Polymarket: Is a $10B Valuation Imminent?
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire a $2 billion stake in Polymarket, a rapidly growing crypto-based predictive platform. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, the deal was announced on Tuesday and could potentially value Polymarket between $8 billion and $10 billion.
The news sent ICE’s shares rising by over 4% in pre-market trading as investors welcomed the potential diversification of the exchange operator’s portfolio. In a joint statement, ICE announced that it will become a global distributor of Polymarket’s event-oriented data, in addition to making an investment, and will offer customers new instruments to measure sentiment on political, economic, and cultural events.
Polymarket was founded in Manhattan, New York, and enables users to bet on real-world events such as politics, business, economy, weather, and global affairs. The platform has gained significant traction in recent months, with a growing demand for tools that combine market dynamics with crowd-sourced intelligence.
From Thiel to Trump Jr.: Strategic Moves Fuel Polymarket’s $10B Valuation
The potential valuation of Polymarket at $10 billion would be ten times its valuation just a few months ago. In June 2025, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund led a $200 million funding round and valued the company at $1 billion. Since then, Polymarket has attracted high-profile supporters, including Donald Trump Jr., who joined the company’s advisory committee in August after his firm, 1789 Capitals, made an investment.
The expansion follows the completion of investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which cleared the way for Polymarket’s full US re-entry. The company has also announced a collaboration with Elon Musk’s X-platform, which will integrate Polymarket’s markets into Xai’s chatbot for real-time priority analysis.
Polymarket’s US Return Stalls as Government Shutdown Freezes CFTC Operations
The long-awaited relaunch of Polymarket in the US has hit an unexpected roadblock due to the ongoing government shutdown, which has frozen the CFTC’s regulatory functions. While Polymarket seemed ready to reopen in the US through the acquisition of QCEX, a designated contract market (DCM), the timing now looks increasingly uncertain.
The shutdown, which began on October 1, has effectively frozen the CFTC’s self-certification process, an essential step for DCMs to start new contracts. In the past, the Commission has suspended all self-certifications during government shutdowns, with the longest lasting 35 days.
Polymarket’s own prediction markets reflect the growing skepticism, with a current probability of 70% that the production will remain stalled by October 15th or later. Until then, Polymarket’s long-awaited American relaunch remains on ice.
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