Shayne Coplan, founder of prediction marketplace Polymarket, is once again in the spotlight as prediction markets move from regulatory prohibitions in the United States to legal financial markets with institutional support.
Bloomberg named Coplan among the world’s billionaires after a $2 billion investment in Polymarket by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the Novel York Stock Exchange.
Coplan launched the platform in 2020 when he was 21, after dropping out of college at Novel York University. He said he often worked on a platform in the bathroom of his Novel York apartment.
Before launching Polymarket, Coplan worked on a cryptocurrency staking platform called Union, which provided venture capital funding, and also worked on several smaller cryptocurrency projects while in school. Posted in X post: :
“At the beginning of the pandemic, I literally had nothing to lose: 21 years, running out of money, 2.5 years since graduating and nothing to show for it, but I knew we were entering an era where ways of discovering the truth would matter more than ever.”
The inspiration to launch Polymarket came from reading the work of economist Robin Hanson, who pioneered academic research on forecasting markets, Coplan added.
With the deal, Coplan becomes the youngest self-made billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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Polymarket is defying the odds to become a $9 billion company
Polymarket is now valued at $9 billion following the $2 billion ICE deal, but in earlier years when U.S. regulators targeted the crypto industry, it was considered a long-term venture.
The platform was banned for US users in 2022 after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Polymarket $1.4 million for operating as an unregulated exchange.
Prediction marketplaces including Polymarket and rival Kalshi made headlines and grabbed narrative attention during the 2024 US presidential election.
Polymarket traders rightly called the election in favor of US President Donald Trump about a month before the election, estimating that his chances of winning were as high as 67%.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Coplan’s apartment in November 2024, after the 2024 US election results were announced, on suspicion that the prediction market served US clients.
In a statement to Cointelegraph at the time, Polymarket spokesmen characterized the FBI investigation and raid as “politically motivated.”
“Officials should self-reflect and realize that adopting a more pro-business and pro-startup approach could change their fortunes in this election,” Coplan he said in response to the FBI raid.
The fate of Polymarket changed after changes in regulations in the USA after the election of Donald Trump. The company received CFTC approval to re-serve U.S. customers in September 2025.
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