Coinbase announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Clearing Company, a startup specializing in regulated, on-chain prediction markets.
The deal is expected to close in January 2026, subject to customary conditions. The Clearing Company founded earlier in 2025 by Toni Gemayel former growth lead at Polymarket and Kalshi, with a team of prediction market veterans. It raised $15 million in a seed round in August 2025, backed by investors including Coinbase Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Haun Ventures.
The startup focused on building infrastructure for on-chain, regulated prediction markets and had applied to the CFTC to become a Derivatives Clearing Organization. This move accelerates Coinbase’s recently launched prediction markets feature rolled out in partnership with Kalshi just days earlier, allowing users to trade event contracts on real-world outcomes like elections, sports, economic data, and culture alongside crypto, derivatives, and equities.
It supports Coinbase’s vision of becoming the “Everything Exchange” — a unified platform for all asset classes. The Clearing Company’s team will join Coinbase to scale its prediction markets product, bringing specialized expertise in event-based trading.
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The deal value is described as immaterial, and it’s Coinbase’s 10th acquisition in 2025. This acquisition reflects growing mainstream interest in prediction markets, which exploded in popularity during the 2024 U.S. election cycle and continue to attract high engagement as a high-frequency trading product.
Strategic Implications for Coinbase
By integrating The Clearing Company’s expertise in regulated, on-chain prediction markets, Coinbase gains: Specialized talent from prediction market veterans like ex-Polymarket, Kalshi, and Coinbase staff.
Faster product scaling, including potential 24/7 markets with reduced settlement friction via in-house clearing infrastructure. A natural extension of its recent prediction markets launch in partnership with Kalshi, allowing seamless trading of outcomes in elections, sports, economic data, and culture alongside other assets.
This is Coinbase’s 10th acquisition in 2025, reflecting an aggressive strategy to build vertically integrated, compliant infrastructure rather than relying solely on partnerships. Prediction markets are high-frequency, high-engagement products that attract users beyond crypto volatility.
Analysts from Benchmark, J.P. Morgan note this could boost app usage and reduce Coinbase’s heavy reliance on spot crypto trading fees amid increasing competition. The sector sees ~$4 billion weekly notional volume per Dune Analytics, with explosive interest post-2024 U.S. elections. Mainstream adoption could drive new revenue streams as platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi gain traction.
Positions Coinbase against Robinhood, Kraken, and Gemini all expanding into equities and predictions. It also bridges centralized and decentralized worlds, potentially capturing share from blockchain-based rivals like Polymarket.
The Clearing Company had applied to the CFTC to become a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), potentially enabling stablecoin-based clearing — a first if approved. This strengthens Coinbase’s regulated venue via Coinbase Financial Markets and helps navigate scrutiny in a category facing legal challenges.
Ongoing regulatory uncertainty could fragment the market or limit expansion. Some analysts express caution about diluting high-margin crypto businesses, though the deal is described as financially immaterial. Brings prediction markets deeper into traditional finance, blending them with crypto and stocks on a major exchange.
This could normalize event-based trading as a speculative and hedging tool. On-Chain innovation emphasizes regulated on-chain infrastructure, potentially paving the way for more tokenized real-world assets and 24/7 global access.
Coinbase shares rose modestly (1-3%) on announcement day, signaling positive but tempered investor sentiment amid broader crypto gains. This move solidifies Coinbase’s pivot toward a diversified, regulated super-app for finance, capitalizing on prediction markets’ momentum while addressing engagement and revenue challenges in a maturing crypto landscape.