🐳 Daily Edition: Polymarket Reaches Unicorn Status with Billion Dollar Valuation

Bitcoin is once again racing towards all time highs after rising +10% from the lows on Monday to $107k. The worst of the conflict in the Middle East seems to be over as an official ceasefire is now in place, but if you were watching the markets you probably knew that already. While BTC retains most of the spotlight, crypto prediction market Polymarket made headlines today as rumors of their $200M raise surfaced. Despite the app existing since 2020, Polymarket lay dormant until recently with monthly volume reaching over $2B from nearly 0 in the fall of 2024. With most of the volume coming from the contentious US election there was a noticeable drop off after it was decided, yet as you can see in the graph below they seem to have leveled out around $1B.

To this day Polymarket is one of very few crypto apps that have received any attention from mainstream audiences, much less significant betting volume. Their $200M raise at a $1B valuation puts them at half the price point as competitor Kalshi, who recently raised $185M at $2B. The main difference between the two is Kalshi’s regulation by the CFTC, which includes a number of rules that Polymarket is not necessarily subject to allowing the platform much more flexibility yet potentially open to regulatory risk in the future (they have already settled with the CFTC once). One drawback is that US users are geoblocked from placing bets, however we all know that doesn’t hold back crypto traders at all…

Have we finally found the killer use case for crypto?

The Beluga intern has been hard at work gathering all the most important crypto news stories so you have them in one place!

The Majors

• Bit Digital winds down Bitcoin mining operations, doubles down on Ethereum as latest ETH treasury play

• Trump administration moves to count crypto as a federal mortgage asset

Alt Coins and Stocks

• Will GameStop buy more Bitcoin? GME boosts latest fundraise to $2.7 billion

• Why did Solana and Ethereum treasury stocks plunge on routine SEC filings?

Apps

• Polymarket nears Founder Fund-led funding at over $1 billion valuation, source says

Upcoming Launches

• Pantera, Blockchange lead funding for privacy-focused Zama Confidential Blockchain Protocol at $1 billion valuation

• Eclipse Foundation announces TGE soon

Beluga is excited to offer two Starter Packs from our partners at Hemi, a leading Bitcoin L2, and BONK, the largest memecoin community on Solana. Head to the Beluga Starter Pack page to claim points and more!