Polymarket, a crypto-driven betting platform known for its political forecasting markets, is preparing to return to the US after a federal investigation was dropped last week, the company said in a press release Monday.
The New York-based company has acquired QCX, a regulated derivative exchange, for $112 million. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted QCX approval to operate on July 9, two years after initially applying for a license.
The agreement agreed to return a legal path to the Poly local to the United States and to cease services to American users in 2022. At the time, Polymarket agreed to settle with the CFTC to operate an unregistered market and block US traders. However, despite the agreement, authorities later began an investigation into whether the company had not enforced the restrictions.
The Department of Justice and the CFTC had been investigating Polymercu for several months. As part of that investigation, the FBI reportedly searched the home of New York City founder Shayne Coplan. A Polymerket spokesperson told Coindesk at the time, when the attack was “clear political retaliation,” but the company did not give further details.
As research declines, Polymarket has moved to a regulatory compliant model through its acquisition of QCX. The move could potentially provide a popular forecast market for user users for the first time in years, this time under the supervision of financial regulators.
Polymarket’s rise in fame came in the 2024 US presidential election. There, it attracted attention as the betting market priced political outcomes in real time. The platform allows users to trade the possibilities of future events using Crypto, with topics ranging from elections to sports to geopolitics.
By integrating with a licensed derivatives platform, Polymarket appears to be bet that legal clarity rather than a legal battle will drive the next stage of growth. The company has not said it plans to restart in the US
Last month, Polymarket reportedly approached a $200 million increase at a $1 billion valuation.
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