Robinhood and Susquehanna Forge Strategic Partnership to Acquire LedgerX for Prediction Market Dominance

Breaking: Trading giants make power move into crypto derivatives space

The Deal That Changes Everything

Robinhood teams up with Susquehanna—the market-making behemoth—to snap up LedgerX in what industry insiders call a masterstroke. This isn't just another acquisition; it's a direct assault on traditional prediction markets.

Why LedgerX Matters

LedgerX brings regulated crypto derivatives expertise to the table. Think futures, options, and now—prediction markets. The infrastructure is already there, waiting to be unleashed on Robinhood's massive retail user base.

The Prediction Market Play

This acquisition bypasses years of regulatory hurdles. Suddenly, Robinhood can offer everything from election outcome betting to weather derivatives. Susquehanna's market-making muscle ensures liquidity won't be an issue—unlike some decentralized competitors that struggle with depth.

What This Means for Crypto

Traditional finance meets crypto derivatives in the most mainstream way possible. The move signals that prediction markets aren't just for crypto degens anymore—they're going retail. Expect massive volume spikes across all crypto derivatives as this partnership leverages LedgerX's existing regulatory approvals.

Because when Wall Street firms start buying crypto infrastructure instead of building it, you know they've finally figured out it's cheaper to acquire innovation than to innovate themselves.

New Venue Targets Growing Appetite For Prediction Markets

Robinhood said the deal will pave the way for a futures and derivatives exchange and clearinghouse built with prediction markets in mind. The exchange will serve Robinhood Derivatives and other futures commission merchants, and is expected to begin operations in 2026, opening a new institutional-grade venue for traders who want to bet on real-world events through crypto-style contracts.

“Robinhood is seeing strong customer demand for prediction markets, and we’re excited to build on that momentum,” said JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood. “Our investment in infrastructure will position us to deliver an even better experience and more innovative products for customers.”

Internally, prediction markets have already become one of Robinhood’s key growth engines.

The company says that in the first year since launch, customers traded about 9b contracts across more than 1m accounts, turning event contracts into its fastest-growing product line by revenue and giving it confidence to invest in a dedicated exchange and clearing stack.

Susquehanna Joins As Liquidity Anchor For New Prediction Venue

Susquehanna, one of the largest proprietary trading and market-making firms in global derivatives, will join as a day-one liquidity provider. The joint venture plans to add more market makers over time, aiming to keep spreads tight and execution quality competitive for both Robinhood’s retail users and institutional clients that access the venue through other intermediaries.

The deal lands as prediction markets MOVE from niche crypto corners into mainstream finance in the US. Interest surged after a federal court threw out a Commodity Futures Trading Commission prohibition on election-betting last year, opening the door for regulated platforms to list contracts tied to politics and other real-world outcomes.

Traditional market infrastructure is following the money. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed in October to invest up to $2b in Polymarket.

Kalshi, another heavyweight in the sector, recently drew a valuation of about $11b in a fundraising round, according to a TechCrunch report, signalling strong investor appetite for event-driven trading venues.

Tech Giants Bring Visibility To Crowd-Priced Event Markets

Large derivatives exchanges are also circling the space. CME Group and Cboe have both outlined plans to enter prediction markets, betting that event contracts can sit alongside more established products such as equity index futures and listed options.

Crypto-native institutions are positioning themselves as liquidity backbones for this new market structure. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital is in talks with Polymarket and Kalshi about acting as a market-maker, posting bids and offers that can deepen order books and make it easier for large traders to move in and out of positions tied to everything from elections to macroeconomic releases.

Big technology platforms are adding another layer of visibility. Google Finance recently said it will begin showing live data from Polymarket and Kalshi, so users who ask about future events will be able to see how crowd odds are evolving in real time, alongside more traditional market data.

For Robinhood and Susquehanna, the LedgerX deal offers a shortcut into this growing ecosystem, combining a crypto-savvy retail base, institutional market making and a fully licensed derivatives venue.