Polymarket is preparing to return to the USA, first with only football prediction markets.
Polymarket’s founder Shayne Coplan hinted at the creation of a native token with the ticker POLY. The proposal arrived just as Polymarket officially announced a $2B investment from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
Shayne Coplan, Polymarket’s founder, announced the potential launch of a POLY token. Previously, Polymarket has hinted at a token creation or an airdrop. Coplan also recently became the youngest self-made billionaire, after launching Polymarket during the pandemic crash in 2020.
Coplan hinted at token creation through his social media, just hours after announcing the $2B investment from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
Polymarket users are also receiving messages that suggest the POLY token may be part of an airdrop. Currently, Polymarket has started paying out rewards for holding onto specific positions. In the future, reinvesting earnings may be part of an eventual airdrop.
Users are also getting messages on reinvesting earnings. Recently, Polymarket also tweaked its reporting, removing total user volumes reporting. This led to speculations that a POLY token airdrop may be tied to trading volume levels.
Polymarket sets expectations for major airdrop
The expectations for a POLY airdrop are extremely optimistic, based on the Polymarket valuation of $8B or above.
After Coplan hinted at the token, multiple scenarios for the airdrop emerged. Some possible allocations may include volumes, but also profits, positions, or any combination of the two.
Additionally, there is no certainty as to the snapshot date, so it remains unknown if Polymarket will encourage farming. Overall, the project has attempted to grow organically, and farming may skew the market.
Polymarket has chosen to observe other airdrops from afar, avoiding the launch of a token at an unfavorable moment. For now, Polymarket depends on USDC and partially BTC for making predictions.
Will Polymarket go for a stock or a token?
The recent hint at a POLY token raised the question of whether Polymarket would go public. The platform has considered becoming one of the potential IPOs for 2026, along with other crypto leaders.
For years, Polymarket has existed successfully as a tokenless protocol. The addition of a token raised the issue of either co-owning the platform, or as a utility asset. Since Polymarket operates without a utility or governance token, current users suggest it may be better to offer some form of co-ownership.
The airdrop or IPO will follow Polymarket’s relaunch in the USA. The prediction platform is now preparing its selection of markets for a US audience, starting with football. On international markets, Polymarket has transformed into a real-time news prediction venue, with sports now just a small part of the betting pool.
Polymarket is still limited to a single chain, Polygon, and carries $176M in value locked. Despite this, the platform is considered the best use case for on-chain trading and record-keeping. However, news predictions are considered a riskier medium with potentially problematic resolution, hence the switch to clearer outcomes for sports predictions.
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