Kalshi, Polymarket Targeting $20 Billion Valuations

• The two prediction market giants are both rumored to be attempting to raise capital at $20 billion valuations
• For Polymarket, that’d be double the high end of its last valuation
• For Kalshi, $20 billion is slightly less than double the $11 billion that company is valued at

Prediction market behemoths Kalshi and Polymarket are both rumored to be targeting capital raises that would value the companies at $20 billion apiece.

Citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the situations, The Wall Street Journal broke the news earlier today. The financial journal reports that both companies have had talks with financial backers regarding capital raises that would result in valuations of at or around $20 billion.

It’s said the conversations are preliminary and there no guarantees financiers will rush to invest in the event contract platforms $20 billion multiples, particularly as political and regulatory scrutiny on the industry intensifies.

Should either or both companies be valued at $20 billion, it’d represent significant growth in short order. Following a late 2025 financing round of $1 billion, Kalshi was valued at $11 billion. When Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) injected $2 billion into Polymarket last October, that was at a premoney valuation of $8 billion. On a post-investment basis, Polymarket was then valued at $9 billion to $10 billion.

Is $20 Billion Rich for Kalshi, Polymarket?

It’s up to investors to decide if $20 billion is too demanding a valuation for Kalshi and Polymarket. To be sure, that’s not a small number.

If either or both companies are valued at $20 billion, that’d put them well ahead of DraftKings’ (NASDAQ: DKNG) market capitalization of $12.55 billion. Another fun fact: At $20 billion, Kalshi and/or Polymarket would be worth more than every US-listed casino operator except for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS).

Skeptics might assert, and it’s a valid point, that valuing Polymarket at $20 billion is potentially too rich because the company still isn’t operational in the US despite hopes it would be late last year.

Can Kalshi, Polymarket Investors Ignore Scrutiny?

As is the case with any investment, allocating capital to prediction markets involves risk. Venture capitalists and other investors know that, but the risks are arguably heightened today due to legal spats and the involvement of some members of Congress.

Due in large part to sports event contracts, Kalshi, Polymarket and others are engaged in a slew of state-level legal battles as regulators assert that those derivatives are just sports bets with different labels. Those regulators claim prediction markets are violating state gaming laws because they don’t have permits to offer sports wagers.

Congress is paying attention. Over the past two days, headlines emerged indicating a New Mexico Democrat wants to use the Farm Bill to block sports event contracts, a California and a Utah Republican introduced the Event Contract Enforcement Act, which bar sports, among other event contracts, and a group Democrat senators proposed a bill aimed at limiting insider trading on yes/no exchanges.