Developer(s) | Shayne Coplan |
---|---|
Platform | Ethereum |
Available in | English |
Type | Prediction Market Platform |
License | Free software (GPL) |
Website | polymarket |
Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market platform that allows users to place bets on world events. Users buy and sell shares using cryptocurrency to bet on the likelihood of future events taking place.
Polymarket was founded by Shayne Coplan[1] in 2020 as an online prediction market platform that would allow users to trade on the outcome of world events.[2]
In January 2022, the platform was fined US$1.4 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, alongside receiving a cease and desist order, following regulation violations including not registering as a Swap Execution Facility.[3][4]
In May 2022, Polymarket appointed J. Christopher Giancarlo, a former Commissioner of the CFTC, as chairman of its advisory board.[5]
In June 2023, Mother Jones reported that interest around the company increased after a tweet about the outcome of the Titan submersible went viral;[6] the premise of the bet was whether or not the submersible would be found by a certain date[6] rather than a wager on the fate of the passengers.[7] Polymarket had over 60 markets available at the time of the submersible wager, including the outcome of the Guatemalan presidential election and the likelihood of Twitter suing Meta, and the likelihood that Russia would use nuclear force.[7]