Polymarket is reportedly looking for $50m ahead of US election

Polymarket, a platform that offers prediction markets on popular events, including the upcoming US election, is looking to raise more funds ahead of Election Day on November 4.

The platform has not confirmed these rumors, which were originally reported by The Information, a specialist website, but the media claims that the new funding round could be as big as $50m, citing its sources.

Polymarket wants to top up a war chest with a $50m funding injection

Polymarket will supposedly sell its tokens to investors who could then use the tokens to "validate the outcome of real-world events," the media outlet reported. Not much else is known about what this investment could entail, and how it could impact the current operating model the company has been using.

Polymarket, though, has enjoyed a vote of confidence from the public and investors over the past months, with the company raising more than $70m so far, and this could be supplemented by a new round.

Polymarket has also been able to attract a huge crowd of people who enjoy this type of prediction market "betting" on real events, with politics taking center stage on the platform.

The operator has further consolidated its standing in the crypto and betting industries by offering to settle transactions in USDC, a token that trades at a ratio of 1:1 to the US dollar, making Polymarket an appealing platform to either crypto enthusiasts or laymen.

However, Polymarket is not actually available in the United States, where it is actually blocking users and has gone so far as to ensure that it does not allow US residents to use Virtual Private Networks to connect to the website.

Polymarket avoids US as it fears retribution from federal watchdogs

Polymarket has been loath to butt heads with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission which has been going out of its way to shutter any attempts at offering political prediction markets or betting of any sort.

The CFTC has argued that prediction market platforms are breaking several federal statutes that are the purview of the regulator itself, and thus the CFTC could seek legal action against companies such as Polymarket. The regulator is currently fighting a dogged case against Kalshi, another prediction market platform that has briefly won a relief but has been blocked from offering markets once again.

Polymarket, though, has been treading more cautiously, avoiding attracting the ire of federal authorities in the United States, and focusing on servicing jurisdictions that are more lenient on prediction markets.

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