Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are discussing possible fundraising rounds that could value each company at around $20 billion.
If concluded at this level, the transactions would roughly double their valuations compared to the end of 2025. The discussions remain preliminary and may not result in finalized investments, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Prediction markets allow users to trade contracts related to real-world events, in categories such as sports, politics, elections, and more. Traders buy and sell these contracts based on what they think will happen. Essentially, it allows users to monetize information about world events.
Kalshi already operates in the United States with approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Founded in 2018 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, the company raised $1 billion at a valuation of $11 billion in December last year.
The company recently hit annualized revenue of about $1.5 billion, according to the WSJ report citing people close to the industry.
Polymarket, founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, was valued at $9 billion in October after Intercontinental Exchange agreed to invest up to $2 billion in the platform.
Neither platform immediately responded to CoinDesk’s requests for comment.
Both platforms are industry leaders, with prediction markets becoming the latest fad for traders.
According to a Dune dashboard, open interest on Kalshi hovers above $400 million, while on Polymarket it stands at $360 million. The third largest market, Opinion, is worth $36 million.
Similarly, the weekly notional volume (total underlying value of all prediction contracts traded) on Polymarket was $1.9 billion last week, and on Kalshi, $1.87 billion, according to Dune data. Opinion recorded weekly volume of $150 million, up from more than $1.2 billion before its symbolic launch.
The sector has become so popular that companies including Coinbase and Robinhood have entered the prediction market. In fact, Wall Street giants Nasdaq and Cboe recently said they were considering launching yes or no “binary bets” for traders on the direction of traditional markets, similar to predictive market bets.
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