Polymarket Buys QCEX to Make US Market Comeback

Polymarket is making its long-awaited comeback to the United States, and it’s doing so by playing by the rules this time. 

The popular blockchain-based prediction market has announced that it has acquired QCEX, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, in a $112 million deal that finally provides the company with a fully legal path back into the American market.

Ready to Reopen to American Players

With the purchase, Polymarket now owns both QCX LLC and QC Clearing LLC, two entities that will operate under the QCEX name. Both are licensed and regulated by the CFTC, which clears the way for Polymarket to reopen to U.S. users after being shut out of the country for more than three years.

The announcement follows the announcement that federal regulators have closed ended their lengthy investigations into Polymarket’s earlier operations. 

Back in 2022, the company agreed to stop serving U.S. customers and paid a $1.4 million penalty for running an unregistered platform. 

That cloud lingered over Polymarket for several years, growing bigger last fall when federal agents raided the New York home of chief executive officer Shayne Coplan amid election-related trading on the platform that was in bloom. Coplan labeled the action as political retribution from the Biden Administration.

Polymarket to “Allow Americans to Trade Their Opinions”

With the investigations over, Coplan struck a confident tone. “Polymarket is the largest prediction market globally and has become synonymous with understanding the probability of current events,” he said in Monday’s release. 

“Now, with the acquisition of QCEX, we are laying the foundation to bring Polymarket home — re-entering the US as a fully regulated and compliant platform that will allow Americans to trade their opinions.”

For QCEX founder Sergei Dobrovolskii, the partnership represents a payoff years in the making. “When we began the process to obtain our DCM & DCO licenses over four years ago, the prediction market was in its infancy,” he said. 

“But we have long believed in its potential to change the way people access and understand information and express their views on that information. Shayne has built a cultural phenomenon in Polymarket.”, he added. 

The integration of QCEX’s systems with Polymarket’s technology is already underway, though no actual date has been set for the U.S. relaunch. When it does return, American users will finally be able to trade predictions under the same rules and safeguards that govern commodity futures.

The move also comes as Polymarket continues to grow abroad. This year alone, it has handled more than $6 billion in bets, launched a partnership with Elon Musk’s X and Grok AI, and expanded its markets into politics, sports, and pop culture, all while keeping a close eye on regulators.