Polymarket Prepares to Return to the US Market with QCEX Acquisition
Date: 2025-07-22 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: BUSINESS
Prediction platform Polymarket has announced the acquisition of US exchange QCEX for $112 million. QCEX is licensed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which opens the way for Polymarket to return to the market from which it was forced to leave three years ago.
Back in 2022, the CFTC accused the company of providing binary options trading services without registration, which resulted in a fine of $1.4 million. Following this incident, Polymarket was obliged to restrict access to US clients, but later in 2024, the Department of Justice launched a new investigation. According to media reports, the authorities suspected that Polymarket did not fulfill its promises and continued to serve American users. As part of this case, the FBI raided the apartment of founder and CEO Shane Koplan, seizing his phone and a number of electronic devices.
Recently, on July 15, Koplan publicly confirmed that the Department of Justice has completed its investigation and no longer has any claims against the platform. At the same time, the CFTC also dropped all previously brought charges. This gave the green light for a strategic move to return to the largest forecast market.
According to Koplan, demand for the platform is now growing faster than ever before - the number of users and trading volumes are constantly increasing. He emphasized that many come to Polymarket specifically for reliable forecasts, to separate facts from rumors and speculation. The acquisition of QCEX should be the foundation for an official return to the US market, where the company plans to offer citizens the opportunity to freely exchange their forecasts and opinions.
Polymarket user activity especially increased during the presidential election in November 2024, when betting volumes reached multi-million values. At that time, the platform made predictions about the chances of both candidates, which attracted even more attention to the service. It is noted that the accuracy of predictions on Polymarket often reaches 94% just a few hours before the market closes.
The deal with QCEX, according to analysts, will allow Polymarket not only to return to the American audience, but also to strengthen its position as one of the world's largest forecasting platforms operating within the regulated field.
