TL;DR:
- Polymarket acquired crypto payments startup Brahma for an undisclosed amount, according to a report by Fortune.
- The predictions platform aims to improve liquidity in niche markets where smaller bets fail to attract sufficient capital.
- Polymarket is also exploring a new funding round that would value it at $20 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Polymarket acquired Brahma, a startup specialized in crypto asset payments. The deal‘s terms were not disclosed publicly, according to a report by Fortune. The prediction markets platform stated that Brahma’s incorporation aims to improve the user experience and resolve one of its most persistent structural problems: thin liquidity in niche bets.
The rationale behind the acquisition lies in the fact that, on Polymarket, the bulk of volume concentrates on high-profile events, such as presidential elections or major sporting competitions. Contracts on lesser events —a bowling match in Spain, for example— rarely attract enough capital to guarantee efficient market conditions. Thin liquidity acts as a silent tax: it erodes returns through price slippage both on entry and exit of a position.
Polymarket Turns to DeFi Expertise as a Solution
This is where Brahma comes in. The startup, founded in 2021 by Alessandro Tenconi, processed over $1 billion in transactions since its launch. Its expertise in decentralized finance —a segment characterized by agile operations and users with high risk tolerance— could attract additional capital toward Polymarket’s least-traded contracts.
Tenconi explained to Fortune that his startup can remove the limitations users face when creating a wallet, depositing funds, converting shares and redeeming outcome tokens. These are precisely the drop-off points that drive less technical users away from the platform.
It is worth noting that Brahma partnered with Euler Labs to develop Swype.fun, a credit card designed to make payments in the physical world using crypto assets without the need to liquidate them.
According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, Polymarket is exploring the possibility of conducting a new funding round that would value the company at $20 billion.
