DraftKings, the American sports betting platform, uses Polymarket as a clearing house for its new prediction market, an industry with over $4 billion in monthly trading volume.
“Congratulations to DraftKings on their acquisition of Railbird. We are proud to have Polymarket Clearing as their designated clearing house as they enter the prediction markets space,” Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan said in an X post on Wednesday.
Railbird, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated prediction market platform, was acquired by DraftKings on Tuesday for an undisclosed amount.
Polymarket’s clearinghouse is necessary to verify transactions, hold collateral, ensure all bets and contracts are settled fairly and securely, prevent defaults, reduce counterparty risk, and maintain trust among participants.
The new DraftKings Predictions will debut as a mobile app in the “coming months” and will cover every market from finance to culture to entertainment.
“This product has the flexibility to connect to multiple exchanges, allowing DraftKings to offer its customers one of the broadest suites of markets,” DraftKings said.
This is the first major cryptocurrency move made by DraftKings since closing its non-fungible token marketplace in July 2024, further strengthening Polymarket’s dominance in the prediction market space.
Polymarket re-entered the U.S. market for the first time in more than two years when it acquired the clearinghouse in June by acquiring U.S. derivatives exchange QCEX for $112 million.
Polymarket has made big moves this month.
Polymarket has already had a strong month of integrations, including the identity-focused World App announced by Sam Altman on Tuesday and the cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, which is expected to be integrated by the end of the year.
Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, also invested $2 billion in Polymarket, valuing it at $9 billion amid increased competition from Calci, which also has a multibillion-dollar valuation.
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Railbird was founded in 2021, but only received regulatory approval from the CFTC as a designated contract marketplace in June.
Prediction markets break out in October
According to data from DefiLlama, the prediction market is hotter than ever, with Polymarket and Kalsi trading volumes already exceeding a combined $4.63 billion in the first 23 days of October, breaking last month’s all-time record of $4.17 billion.
Kalsi has already traded at $2.87 billion this month, the highest monthly total ever.
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