27-year-old Polymarket founder becomes the youngest self-made billionaire
What's the story
Shayne Coplan, the 27-year-old founder of Polymarket, has become the youngest self-made billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This comes after Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, announced a major investment in Coplan's prediction market platform. The deal sees ICE investing up to $2 billion in Polymarket at an $8 billion pre-money valuation.
Journey
From broke to billionaire
Before his success with Polymarket, Coplan faced financial difficulties after dropping out of New York University. He was so broke at one point that he had to sell his belongings just to pay rent. However, in 2019, he found inspiration in economist Robin Hanson's ideas on prediction markets and their potential for improving society's ability to identify likely outcomes.
Launch
Launching Polymarket
In June 2020, Coplan launched Polymarket, seeing COVID-19 as the perfect time for an app where people could bet on real-world outcomes. However, the company's approach often clashed with regulators, resulting in a ban on US-based users for years. Despite these hurdles, Polymarket managed to draw over $3 billion in wagers during the 2024 presidential election alone.
Milestone
ICE's investment and its implications
The investment from ICE, a major player in the global financial market with a market cap of over $90 billion, is a huge milestone for Polymarket. The platform allows users to bet on the outcome of various events, including elections and sports results. With this deal, ICE will become a global distributor of Polymarket's event-driven data and collaborate on future "tokenization" projects combining traditional markets with blockchain-based assets.
Future
Future of prediction markets and Coplan's vision
Coplan said the partnership with ICE is a major step toward bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream. He hopes to deliver world-class products for modern investors by combining ICE's institutional scale and credibility with Polymarket's consumer savvy. The prediction markets industry is projected to grow significantly, with revenues expected to reach $8 billion by 2030, driven largely by new platforms focusing on sports bets.