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Intercontinental Exchange, better known as ICE, is betting big on blockchain-powered prediction markets. The owner of the New York Stock Exchange announced a $2 billion cash investment in Polymarket, pushing the crypto-based trading platform’s valuation above $8 billion and signaling Wall Street’s growing comfort with decentralized finance.
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ICE chair and CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher described the partnership as a meeting between tradition and innovation. He said:
“Our investment blends ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, which was founded in 1792, with a forward-thinking, revolutionary company pioneering change within the Decentralized Finance space. (Polymarket CEO and founder) Shayne Coplan has assembled a team at Polymarket to create a user-driven company relentlessly focused on product, building usage and distribution.”
Sprecher added that both companies see opportunities to expand access to modern financial tools and serve new categories of investors. ICE confirmed the investment will not materially affect its capital plans or financial forecasts.
Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan called ICE the “gold standard for trusted financial infrastructure,” saying the partnership is the culmination of years spent building legitimacy in decentralized markets.
The timing of ICE’s investment aligns with a more crypto-friendly political climate under President Donald Trump. His son, Donald Trump Jr., recently invested in Polymarket through 1789 Capita and accepted a seat on the company’s advisory board.
Coplan said the collaboration represents a natural bridge between traditional finance and emerging blockchain platforms.
“Realizing the potential of new technologies, such as tokenization, will require collaboration between established market leaders and next-generation innovators,” Coplan stated. “We couldn’t be more excited to build together.”
The investment also marks a critical step in Polymarket’s return to the United States. After being banned by federal regulators in 2022, the company has since acquired a U.S. exchange and clearinghouse and expects to relaunch under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight later this year.
Coplan reflected on the company’s turbulent path in a post on X:
“The past two years have been surreal. Going from a write-off to creating a category, watching our vision become a reality… It just takes someone crazy enough to spend their life willing it into existence. That’s entrepreneurship: willing things into existence.”
Founded in 2020, Polymarket allows users to buy and sell prediction contracts on topics such as sports, cryptocurrency, economics, politics, and pop culture. The platform gained international attention during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, when over $2 billion in trading volume was recorded.
The company says that its prediction data has become a trusted source for institutions, media outlets, and individual traders seeking to gauge public sentiment. In 2025 alone, Polymarket reported billions of dollars in traded contracts across global markets.