Polymarket is preparing a return to the U.S. after acquiring a licensed derivatives exchange for $112 million, just days after prosecutors ended a years-long investigation into the crypto-based prediction market platform.
The purchase of QCX, a Florida-based exchange and clearinghouse approved earlier this month by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, gives Polymarket a regulated entry point back into the U.S. The move, first reported by Bloomberg, follows a $200 million fundraising round in April that valued the company at $1 billion.
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan called the deal a foundational step toward “bringing Polymarket home” as a fully compliant U.S. platform. The company has been blocked in the U.S. since 2022, when the CFTC ordered it to pay $1.4 million and cease operations for failing to register properly.
Polymarket did not provide a timeline for its U.S. relaunch, but said it expects trading access to be available in the near future.
DOJ drops Polymarket probe
The timing comes just one week after Bloomberg also reported that the U.S. Department of Justice and CFTC formally closed their investigations into whether Polymarket violated that settlement by continuing to allow Americans to use the platform.
Despite the official ban, U.S. residents have reportedly continued accessing the site through workarounds. A Sportico investigation earlier this month found Polymarket spent over $1 million targeting U.S. users on Facebook, highlighting the ongoing grey area in federal oversight of event-based wagering.
Polymarket’s popularity has surged overseas, with the company reporting billions in global trading volume on markets tied to political elections, celebrity news, economic data, and sports. A recent partnership with Elon Musk’s X aims to bring Polymarket’s real-time market data to users through the platform’s Grok AI chatbot.
Legal uncertainty remains
The deal arrives amid mounting regulatory uncertainty over prediction markets, particularly those involving sports.
Several states have called on the CFTC to crack down on federally regulated platforms that allow users to wager on game outcomes, arguing they amount to unlicensed sports betting. The CFTC under the Trump administration has largely avoided intervening, even as firms like Kalshi expand offerings into the space.
Kalshi, Polymarket’s main competitor, launched its first sports contracts around this year’s Super Bowl and has since seen massive growth. Sports trading now accounts for nearly all of the platform’s volume.
QCX first applied for its license in June 2022 and received CFTC approval on July 9. The exchange is based in Boca Raton and will operate under the QCEX brand.
