Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) CEO and chair Jeffrey Sprecher has said the New York Stock Exchange owner’s $2bn (£1.5bn) investment into Polymarket was not predicated by the potential of sports event contracts.
The ICE investment was announced last month, with the injection valuing the prediction market at around $8bn.
Via the deal, ICE will become a global distributor of Polymarket’s “event-driven data”, with the pair also due to partner on “future tokeniation initiatives”.
Polymarket, which is powered by crypto, is set to return to the US this year following a surge in interest in prediction markets, led by Kalshi.
Polymarket has acquired Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed QCEX to fast-track its return, having formally exited the US in 2022.
While the platform has not been officially available to those in the US, it is thought Polymarket has remained accessible via VPNs.
Kalshi has seen its trading volume explode thanks to sports event contracts, although ICE said the interest was not a fundamental reason for the investment.
Speaking on ICE’s Q3 earnings call last week, Sprecher confirmed non-sports markets and data were the key priorities.
He said: “I reached out to Shayne [Coplan, Polymarket CEO] early in the summer after it became clear the Trump administration and the US Congress was going to validate much of what was being done with stablecoins and ultimately on the blockchain.
“And it was in that environment that we began conversation, and that was before the NFL season. We were attracted by their non-sports activities where they really are a global leader. Sports was not something that really got our interest.
“I think it’s great for Polymarket if they can make a business around that and make earnings around that, and certainly longer term for our equity stake in the business, that would be great.
“But we’re not a venture [capital] firm. I think we will be rewarded if we can bring the underlying technologies into our workflow and increase our sales revenue and manage our costs.
“[It’s] a long-winded way of saying good for Polymarket if they can navigate the sports complex, [but it’s] not high on our list in terms of what we’re going to contribute to them and what they’ll contribute to us.”
The post ICE: Sports event contracts were not key in $2bn investment into Polymarket first appeared on EGR Intel.
CEO and chair Jeffrey Sprecher says sports are “not high on our list” when it comes to deriving benefits from its investment into prediction market
The post ICE: Sports event contracts were not key in $2bn investment into Polymarket first appeared on EGR Intel.