Polymarket Founder Drops POLY Token Hint After $2B Investment From NYSE Parent Company

Shayne Coplan, who founded the crypto prediction platform Polymarket, wrote a cryptic post on October 8 that made it sound like there might be a native POLY token in the works.

This hint comes soon after Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said it will invest $2 billion in Coplan’s company, bringing its total value to $9 billion.

A Cryptic Hint

The timing of Coplan’s teaser has caught attention across crypto circles. His post was made in response to analyst Nairolf’s assessment that the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) had surpassed both Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) in mindshare, and Polymarket had secured fifth place overall in mindshare, ranking as the number one app in the market.

The Polymarket CEO then quoted Nairolf’s tweet, listing the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, including Bitcoin (BTC), ETH, BNB, and SOL. However, he omitted the fourth-largest non-stablecoin asset, XRP, instead replacing it on the list with “$POLY” and adding a thinking face emoji for mysterious effect.

The mention of POLY sparked numerous responses on X, with crypto commentators divided between being hopeful and skeptical. The platform’s CMO Matthew Modabber chipped in, saying, “They weren’t ready for this one chief.”

Meanwhile, journalist Laura Shin expressed curiosity, writing, “Who dis, new coin?”. At the same time, user Mtn Drew warned against “utility tokens,” instead demanding that Coplan think about a model that would allow users to “own Polymarket.”

Pseudonymous Hyperliquid enthusiast HyperProphet speculated that introducing POLY could “easily flip PumpFun” if the platform allowed creators to launch their own sub-markets, such as “PolyStars,” earning fees from user activity.

ICE’s $2B Deal Pushes Polymarket’s Valuation to $9 Billion

The POLY token speculation followed ICE’s confirmation of its multibillion-dollar investment in Polymarket, which now pegs its valuation at $9 billion. It also made Coplan the “youngest self-made billionaire,” according to Bloomberg.

Founded in 2020, Polymarket has since laid claim to a huge chunk of the prediction markets, recording nearly $19 billion in cumulative trading volume and a 90% success rate on event outcomes. In November last year, the founder’s Manhattan apartment was raided by FBI agents who demanded access to his phone and devices, shortly after the platform correctly forecasted Donald Trump beating Kamala Harris with 58.6% odds.

ICE’s entry into the crypto prediction space is one of the biggest moves by a TradFi company into decentralized markets so far. The investment comes after two rounds of funding for Polymarket that were not made public before, including a $150 million raise in early 2025 led by Founders Fund, which valued the business at $1.2 billion.

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