Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeWealthPolymarket founder is youngest self-made billionaire after deal with NYSE ownerPrediction markets like Polymarket allows users to bet on the outcomes of various events beyond typical sports bettingAuthor of the article:Last updated Oct 08, 2025 You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Shayne Coplan and his company are now riding high after Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would invest as much as US$2 billion in Polymarket. Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images/Postmedia filesA couple of years after dropping out of New York University with dreams of making it big in crypto, Shayne Coplan was so broke that he took an inventory of his Lower East Side apartment so that he could sell belongings to make rent.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorFed up with crypto grifts, in 2019 he started to explore economist Robin Hanson’s ideas on prediction markets and their potential for improving society’s ability to identify likely outcomes.“This is too good of an idea to just exist in whitepapers,” he recalled thinking in a later post on X. Then COVID struck — the perfect time to develop an app for stuck-at-home folks to bet on real-world outcomes, he reasoned. He began building Polymarket from his bathroom and launched the platform in June 2020.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againIt wasn’t a smooth road. The company’s move-fast, ask-permission-later approach repeatedly ran afoul of regulators, who forced it to ban United States-based users for years because it wasn’t a registered exchange. A week after the 2024 presidential election — one that Polymarket users wagered more than US$3 billion on — Coplan’s apartment was raided by FBI agents.But he and his company are now riding high after Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would invest as much as US$2 billion in Polymarket at an US$8 billion pre-money valuation. That deal makes its 27-year-old founder the youngest self-made billionaire tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.A spokesperson for Polymarket declined to comment.Prediction markets like Polymarket allows users to bet on the outcomes of various events, like elections, whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, or who Time magazine’s person of the year will be.They are also becoming increasingly popular as a venue for wagering on sports. Because U.S. prediction markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, their proponents argue they sell financial products tied to the outcome of sporting events rather than sports bets, allowing them to skirt state-level bans on sports gambling. They’ve also been able to avoid certain federal and state taxes applied to sports-wagering revenue.In August, rival Kalshi began offering prediction-market bets through a partnership with Robinhood Markets Inc. The electronic brokerage reported that more than 2 billion prediction contracts had traded in the third quarter.Polymarket suffered a major setback in 2022, when it payed a US$1.4 million penalty to settle with the CFTC over allegations it was offering illegal trading. Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the company agreed to block U.S.-based users going forward.But regulators suspected that Polymarket continued to host U.S. users on the site, and in November, a week after Election Day, FBI agents raided Coplan’s home before dawn and seized electronic devices. The company called the move “obvious political retribution.”The Justice Department and CFTC dropped their investigations in July. That same month, Poymarket acquired CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse QCEX for US$112 million, allowing it to resume U.S. operations legally.The company raised at least US$255 million before ICE’s investment, according to data tracked by Pitchbook. Investors include Peter Thiel and his Founders Fund, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and investment firm Blockchain Capital.Another notable backer is 1789 Capital, which invested in Polymarket before the 2024 election and again this year. As part of that deal, Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son and a partner at 1789, joined the company as an adviser in August. He also advises Kalshi.The company’s ties to Washington could deepen with the ICE investment. ICE’s chief executive, Jeffrey Sprecher, is married to Kelly Loeffler, a former senator who heads the Small Business Administration and is a member of Trump’s cabinet. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.