Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Drops $2 Billion on Polymarket in Surprise Bet on Prediction Platforms
Intercontinental Exchange, the same company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, is betting big on the future of prediction markets. ICE is investing up to $2 billion into Polymarket, a blockchain-powered platform that lets users bet on real-world events. That puts Polymarket’s valuation around $8 billion before any of this money even hits the table.
From Wall Street to What’s Going to Happen Next
Polymarket isn’t your typical trading platform. Instead of buying stocks or crypto, users wager on things like election outcomes, celebrity drama, or even sports results. The site had to pull out of the U.S. for a while after regulators questioned its legal status.
JUST IN: NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange invests $2 billion in Polymarket, the largest private round in crypto history. pic.twitter.com/BPPhEoWhpF
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 7, 2025
However, with ICE’s backing, Polymarket is now preparing to reintroduce itself to American users.
Why Is ICE Doing This?
ICE clearly sees more than just a curiosity here. It plans to use Polymarket’s event data to build what it calls “sentiment indicators.” These are based on how people are betting and could be used by institutional traders to gauge the mood around certain topics or events. ICE says this won’t have any serious impact on its 2025 earnings, but it could quietly change how it collects and sells data.
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Wall Street Reacts Quickly
Right after the news went public, ICE stock jumped nearly 4 percent in early morning trading. That reaction suggests investors think this move could pay off, especially as the lines between financial markets and alternative betting keep getting blurrier.
Other platforms operating in this gray zone are now probably paying close attention to how this all plays out.
The Rules Still Matter
Polymarket didn’t have the easiest time when it first launched. It got in trouble with U.S. regulators for running what they viewed as an unregistered derivatives operation. That forced the company to block U.S. users and scale things back. If it’s coming back now, it’ll need a far more careful legal setup. ICE has the resources and experience to help with that, but it still means jumping through regulatory hoops.
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What This Could Mean for ICE Long Term
This deal pulls ICE into new territory. It’s still in finance, but prediction markets are a different kind of beast. They run more like public opinion platforms than stock exchanges. If Polymarket manages to thrive under ICE’s umbrella, it could open the door to a whole new category of event-driven data products.
That would give ICE a leg up in a space that’s been mostly experimental so far.
What to Watch Moving Forward
Now that the deal’s out, the next steps will show how serious ICE and Polymarket are. Will they manage to relaunch in the U.S.? Will they introduce new types of betting markets? Will this approach attract big users, or just niche gamblers? These are the questions that will determine if this investment becomes a game-changer or fades into the background. Keep an eye on how both crypto and traditional markets respond. This could be the beginning of a new kind of finance.
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Key Takeaways
- ICE is investing up to $2 billion in Polymarket, valuing the blockchain-powered prediction platform at around $8 billion before the funds are even deployed.
- Polymarket lets users bet on real-world events like elections and sports, and ICE’s backing could help it return to the U.S. market after past regulatory issues.
- ICE plans to use Polymarket’s betting data to create sentiment indicators for institutional traders, adding a new layer to its data products.
- ICE stock jumped nearly 4 percent after the news broke, signaling investor confidence in the potential of prediction markets.
- The deal pushes ICE into a new space that blends finance with event-based betting, positioning it to lead in a growing alternative data market.
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