NYSE Parent Invests $2 Billion in Polymarket at $9 Billion Valuation

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has made a $2 billion all-cash investment in Polymarket, valuing the crypto-based prediction platform at $9 billion. The deal marks one of the largest bridges between traditional finance and decentralized markets, with ICE shares rising over 1% post-announcement and premarket gains exceeding 3%.

The partnership extends beyond capital, creating a strategic alliance between Wall Street’s largest exchange operator and a four-year-old DeFi startup. ICE will distribute Polymarket’s event-driven data to institutional clients globally, offering sentiment indicators on market-relevant topics. The collaboration also includes tokenization initiatives to bring traditional financial assets onto blockchain rails.

"This blends ICE, founded in 1792, with a revolutionary company pioneering DeFi change," said ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher. Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan called it "a major step toward mainstreaming prediction markets," emphasizing that technological innovation requires collaboration between incumbents and disruptors.