Polymarket Re-enters U.S. After 4 Years Offshore, Betting Trust Can Win a $26.6 Billion Market
Updated
Updated · WRAL News · Jul 8
Polymarket Re-enters U.S. After 4 Years Offshore, Betting Trust Can Win a $26.6 Billion Market
3 articles · Updated · WRAL News · Jul 8
Summary
Late 2025 marked Polymarket’s U.S. return after it bought QCEX for a regulatory license, and the company is now pitching its onshore platform as a tightly controlled alternative to its offshore exchange.
2022 federal charges that it ran an unregistered derivatives market forced Polymarket offshore; executives say the U.S. business is walled off, dollar-funded and overseen by new compliance, surveillance and enforcement hires from Coinbase, Robinhood, the DOJ and FBI.
$26.6 billion in combined trading volume across Polymarket and rival Kalshi shows the prize, up from $9.75 billion in October; about two-thirds of that activity sits with Kalshi, which dominates U.S. sports-event trading.
Recent scrutiny threatens that trust push: the Wall Street Journal reported allegedly deceptive influencer ads with fake trades, and Politico said at least 20 political creators were paid without clear disclosure; Polymarket says it is investigating.
Washington has grown friendlier to prediction markets, with the Trump administration backing federal preemption and Donald Trump Jr. invested in Polymarket, but the company still must separate its U.S. brand from insider-trading and war-betting controversies on its international platform.