Share this article
Shayne Coplan Becomes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire After Polymarket's $2B Investment: BBG
Shayne Coplan’s net worth reportedly passed $1 billion after the New York Stock Exchange's owner valued Polymarket at $8 billion.
Oct 8, 2025, 8:09 p.m.
What to know:
- Intercontinental Exchange announced it will invest up to $2 billion in Polymarket at an $8 billion valuation.
- Bloomberg named Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
- Polymarket is now legally operating in the U.S. after acquiring a CFTC-licensed exchange this year.
Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of the blockchain-based prediction market Polymarket, has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The milestone follows Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announcing Tuesday that it would invest as much as $2 billion in the company at an $8 billion pre-money valuation. ICE owns the New York Stock Exchange, one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Coplan, now 27, launched Polymarket in June 2020 after spending a year studying how prediction markets could improve decision-making. The platform lets users wager on real-world outcomes, from elections to sports to economic indicators, using cryptocurrency.
Polymarket’s breakout moment came during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when users wagered more than $3 billion on potential outcomes. The scale of participation turned Coplan’s idea from a niche crypto experiment into a global phenomenon.
But the rise wasn’t without setbacks. In 2022, Polymarket paid a $1.4 million penalty to settle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over allegations it was offering illegal trading. The company said it blocked U.S. users soon after, though regulators later suspected it still hosted American traders. One week after the 2024 election, FBI agents raided Coplan’s apartment. The Justice Department dropped the investigation in July, as did the CFTC's civil investigation.
That same month, Polymarket acquired QCEX, a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse, giving it legal grounds to operate in the United States. The move marked a sharp turn from its early regulatory troubles to full legitimacy under U.S. law.
Polymarket has since reshaped the gambling and financial forecasting industries. By blending blockchain transparency with the thrill of market-driven prediction, it’s attracting both retail and institutional interest.
Rival platforms have taken notice. Kalshi, another prediction-market operator, began offering bets through a partnership with Robinhood Markets earlier this year.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Cascade Unveils 24/7 Neo-Brokerage Offering Perpetuals on Cryptos, U.S. Stocks
The platform will let retail traders use one margin account to trade round-the-clock perpetual markets.
What to know:
- Cascade has introduced a 24/7 brokerage-style app for perpetual markets spanning crypto, U.S. equities and private-asset exposure.
- The firm is pitching a single, unified margin account with direct-to-bank U.S. dollar capability for deposits and withdrawals.
- The company has raised $15 million from investors including Polychain Capital, Variant and Coinbase Ventures.
Top Stories
