The prediction market space is one of the fastest growing in finance. Two years ago, Polymarket reportedly raised funds at a $350 million valuation. Today, the platform is in talks to raise funds at a valuation of $15 billion, The Information reported. But the windfall may be made a little less sweet by the success of Polymarket’s bitter rival, Kalshi, which was most recently valued at $22 billion.
The nearly one-third valuation discount for Polymarket could be explained by Kalshi’s stronger foothold in the U.S., where it currently holds roughly 90% market share, or by its stronger revenue figures, since Polymarket just recently started charging trading fees. But the reason for investors’ discounting of Polymarket could lie with a more idiosyncratic factor—the cryptocurrency token the company plans to launch, which makes it more difficult to gauge the stickiness of Polymarket’s current trading volume.
