TL;DR
- The United States has closed its investigations into Polymarket, a decision that reflects the pro-crypto regulatory shift driven by Trump’s arrival.
- Polymarket is considering registering as a futures exchange or acquiring a licensed firm, while signing partnerships and expanding services internationally.
- The platform set records during the 2024 presidential elections with $2.6 billion wagered.
U.S. authorities have officially ended the investigations against Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction markets platform.
The Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission formally notified the company of the closure of these cases, which had been opened in 2024 during the final stretch of the Biden administration. The decision reflects a change in regulatory approach amid an ongoing political realignment, as the White House actively pushes pro-blockchain and crypto measures.
Polymarket had come under regulatory scrutiny for allegedly allowing U.S. citizens to place bets on its platform without the required authorizations.
In 2022, the firm had reached a settlement with the CFTC, agreeing to restrict U.S. access. However, authorities suspected that some users continued operating through VPNs and other tools. The situation escalated after the 2024 presidential elections, when FBI agents raided the home of Shayne Coplan, the company’s founder and CEO, searching for evidence of regulatory violations.
Polymarket Plans to Register as a Futures Exchange
The resolution of these cases forms part of a broader process to ease regulatory restrictions for crypto firms in the U.S. Since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, multiple legal actions inherited from the previous administration against crypto companies have been dropped. Additionally, Congress is expected to approve the country’s first comprehensive digital asset legislation this week, providing formal legal grounds for a large portion of the activity that has so far operated in legal gray areas.
Polymarket now plans to strengthen its presence in the U.S. market under formal licenses. The company is weighing whether to register as a futures exchange with the CFTC or acquire an already licensed firm to operate in that segment. In parallel, it continues expanding internationally and adding new services. Recently, it announced a partnership with X and Elon Musk’s xAI to integrate event forecasts into the social media platform.
Polymarket became especially popular during the 2024 presidential elections, generating over $2.6 billion in betting volume and predicting results more accurately than traditional polls. Its case has become a symbol of the shifting regulatory landscape facing the crypto sector in the United States