Overview

• ICE will distribute Polymarket’s event-probability data to institutional clients and collaborate on future tokenization projects.
• The all-cash deal implies an $8 billion pre-money valuation and a $9 billion post-money valuation, with investment of up to $2 billion.
• Polymarket is preparing a U.S. return after acquiring CFTC-licensed QCX, resolving federal probes, and receiving a September CFTC staff no-action letter.
• ICE shares rose roughly 3%–4% in early trading following the announcement, reflecting investor interest in the strategy.
• The move intensifies competition with Kalshi and brings regulatory questions on sports and political event contracts to the forefront.