Polymarket

Kalshi, the regulated prediction market platform, has secured a $185 million investment round at a $2 billion valuation, positioning itself as a leading rival to Polymarket. The raise, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was led by Paradigm with additional support from Sequoia Capital, Multicoin Capital, and other prominent investors.CEO and co-founder Tarek Mansour confirmed that the newly raised funds will be used to bolster Kalshi’s technology infrastructure and expand its presence across retail brokerages. Currently, Kalshi’s markets are integrated with Robinhood and Webull, with more platforms expected to come online soon.
User and Market Growth Explode
Kalshi’s momentum has accelerated rapidly over the past 12 months. The platform has grown its trading volume 100-fold, increased its user base 10x, and quintupled its number of active markets. These gains coincide with key regulatory and legal victories, including a landmark U.S. federal court decision permitting trading on election outcomes, overturning a century-old prohibition.
This breakthrough followed a legal battle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which had challenged Kalshi's political event contracts as potential gambling instruments. In May 2025, the CFTC dropped its appeal, clearing the path for Kalshi to offer election-related markets legally in the United States.
Political Market Momentum and Strategic Backing
Kalshi's success during the 2024 U.S. election cycle underlines its potential. It reported over $875 million in political market trading volume and more than 16 million trades in the NYC mayoral primary alone. The momentum has attracted high-profile backing. In January, Donald Trump Jr. joined the company as a senior advisor, highlighting Kalshi’s growing influence at the intersection of politics, finance, and crypto.
Kalshi vs. Polymarket: Regulatory Advantage
While Polymarket has dominated in open interest—reportedly just under $600 million—Kalshi now leads in the number of active markets, per data from Polymarket Analytics. Crucially, Polymarket lacks U.S. regulatory licensing, whereas Kalshi operates under full compliance, offering a clear advantage in institutional trust and retail adoption.
Polymarket remains strong in election prediction markets, with its U.S. presidential market exceeding $3 billion in volume. However, Kalshi’s regulated structure may give it the edge for broader, mainstream financial integration.
Crypto Integration and Institutional Focus
Kalshi is also targeting crypto-native traders with a new ZeroHash partnership that allows deposits in Bitcoin, Solana, Worldcoin, and USDC. This crypto integration positions the platform to tap into a large user base already familiar with decentralized finance and tokenized assets.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, Kalshi accounted for 79% of all sports prediction trading volume during March and early April 2025, a sign of its growing dominance beyond politics.
Final Thoughts
Kalshi’s $185 million raise and its resulting $2 billion valuation represent a pivotal moment in the evolution of regulated event-driven markets. With a strong legal framework, growing user base, and crypto-friendly features, Kalshi is emerging as a powerful force in the prediction market space—one that may eventually outpace unregulated competitors like Polymarket.
As prediction markets gain traction among both traditional and crypto investors, Kalshi's regulated and strategically aggressive approach could set a new standard for the industry.
The post appeared first on CryptosNewss.com
#Kalshi #Polymarket $BTC

Blockchain-based prediction market platform Polymarket is reportedly close to finalizing a $200 million funding round, which would push the company's valuation to approximately $1 billion, granting it coveted “unicorn” status, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. The investment round is said to be led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, despite Polymarket’s legal entanglements and a current ban on U.S. users. The FBI executed a search warrant on Polymarket’s founder, Shayne Coplan, in November 2024, seizing electronics over allegations that the platform was giving access to American users .This upcoming funding builds on previous undisclosed rounds, including a $50 million investment earlier in 2025, pushing Polymarket’s total funding well past the $100 million mark.
Explosive Growth Despite Regulatory Headwinds
Polymarket's momentum surged throughout 2024, notably during the U.S. presidential elections, when its monthly trading volume peaked at $2.5 billion in November. In comparison, May 2025 recorded $1.1 billion, according to Dune Analytics—a 56% decline, but still a significant figure.
The platform currently boasts:
1.2 million active traders21,000 open prediction markets20 million open positionsOver $700 million in trading volume
Bets range from geopolitical events—such as Israel-Iran conflicts, Russia-Ukraine ceasefires, or U.S. recessions—to regulatory outcomes, including a reported 87% probability that the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill will pass this year.
Partnership With Elon Musk’s X and Grok AI
Fueling optimism around Polymarket’s potential is its strategic partnership with Elon Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter), announced in early June. The collaboration integrates Polymarket’s decentralized prediction markets with Grok, X’s in-house AI chatbot, for enriched real-time event analysis.
While the synergy could bring predictive analytics into mainstream discourse, the regulatory risk remains significant. Alongside the U.S., Polymarket faces restrictions or outright bans in France, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Poland, and Belgium.
Market Position and Competition
Despite these challenges, Polymarket has emerged as the leading decentralized prediction platform globally. Its competitors include Kalshi, a U.S.-based CFTC-regulated exchange backed by Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital.
Allegations of market manipulation have also stirred controversy around Polymarket’s model, although no formal charges have been filed.
Final Outlook
If the current round closes as reported, Polymarket will not only solidify its place as a crypto unicorn but also reframe the viability of blockchain-based prediction markets at scale. Its alignment with influential figures like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk could catalyze broader adoption, even as it navigates compliance hurdles.
The post appeared first on CryptosNewss.com
#Polymarket $BTC

Prediction platform Polymarket is raising $200M, led by Founders Fund (yes, Peter Thiel’s team!). That includes $50M secretly raised earlier. 👀

🔥 15.9M visits in May — more than FanDuel & DraftKings
🗳️ $8B in election bets
🤖 Now partnered with Elon Musk’s xAI
🎯 Predictions up to 94% accurate
🚀 Token launch rumors are heating up...

Polymarket isn’t just hot—it’s on fire. 🔥
$DOGE $TRUMP
#Polymarket #defi #Web3 #BinanceSquare