Crypto-betting platform Polymarket is set to return to the US market after it struck a deal to acquire a little-known derivatives exchange and clearinghouse company QCX.
The development comes just weeks after prosecutors had shut down a probe of the company that was kicked offshore by federal regulators.
The investigations were examining if Polymarket continued to allow US-based traders onto its platform despite a 2022 settlement with the CFTC in which it promised to block them because it wasn’t registered.
The deal will help Polymarket to legally re-enter the US and formally open the betting site to American users after its surging popularity in 2024 when users placed millions of dollars of wagers on President Donald Trump returning to office.
The New York-based site run by Shayne Coplan was formally notified earlier this month that the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees prediction markets, had both closed their investigations into Polymarket.
Polymarket will pay $112 million to acquire QCX, according to a statement.
QCX applied for CFTC licensing in 2022 and only got the regulator’s blessing to operate on July 9.
The crypto-betting platform shot into public consciousness with the 2024 US presidential polls. With signs plastered around the Republican National Convention and New York City, millions of Americans learned about the forecasting market where they could view —and potentially trade on — the odds of both presidential candidates.
Its dealmaking comes just as a new, permanent head of the CFTC is likely to join office.
Former Republican CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, who was most recently head of policy at the digital asset-focused arm of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has been nominated to lead the agency.
He has also served on the board of directors of Kalshi.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is planning a vote on his nomination later on Wednesday.
--With inputs from Bloomberg.
