NEW YORK, NY—July 23, 2025— Polymarket, the biggest prediction market in the world, is getting ready to come back to the US market by buying the derivatives exchange QCEX for $112 million. This action comes after Polymarket left the U.S. market in 2022 because of problems with the law and a $1.4 million fine from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Polymarket’s purchase of QCEX, which is licensed by the CFTC, gives the company a key, fully regulated framework to do business in the U.S. and let American users in soon. This change is a big deal for the platform, which started in the US in 2020 but had to stop doing business there after being fined for breaking the rules, specifically for offering off-exchange event-based binary options contracts without the right registration.
Shayne Coplan, the founder and CEO of Polymarket, was happy to see the return. Coplan remarked, “Polymarket is the biggest prediction market in the world and is now known for figuring out how likely current events are to happen.” “Demand is higher than ever—both in terms of user growth and trading volume, and in how mainstream audiences are using Polymarket to sort through noise, bias, and speculation.” Now that we’ve bought QCEX, we’re setting the stage to bring Polymarket back to the US as a fully regulated and compliant platform where Americans may trade their ideas.
Sergei Dobrovolskii, the creator of QCEX, agreed and said that getting the right permits ahead of time was smart. “When we started the process of getting our Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization licenses more than four years ago, the prediction market was still new,” Dobrovolskii said. “But we’ve always thought it could change how people get and understand information and share their opinions on that information.” Shayne has created a cultural phenomenon in Polymarket. I’m pleased to bring our businesses together and use our licensing, technology, and knowledge of the retail trading industry to help Polymarket attain its full potential.
The acquisition comes after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the CFTC recently finished looking into Polymarket’s former operations. They didn’t end up filing any charges. This clearance has gotten rid of a big regulatory problem, making it easier for Polymarket to come back.
Polymarket has continued to grow a lot around the world, even if it isn’t available in the U.S. Users made around $6 billion in predictions in the first half of 2025 alone. The website lets traders guess what will happen in the future on a wide range of themes, from politics and current events to pop culture. Market prices show how likely an event is to happen in real time. The company also recently established an official agreement with X, which will help prediction markets become more widely known.
Polymarket wants to get into the big U.S. market with this strategic acquisition. It will give Americans a legitimate way to participate in prediction markets.