Polymarket Exec Confirms Token, Airdrop—After Prediction Market Returns to US

In brief

Matthew Modabber, Polymarket’s CMO, confirmed that a token and airdrop will come eventually.
But first, the prediction market wants to reenter the U.S. after it was effectively banned by the CFTC in 2022.
Modabber said that the company wants the token to have “true utility,” so it needs to be a “core priority.”

Polymarket CMO Matthew Modabber told Degenz Live—a show from Decrypt‘s sister company, Rug Radio—that a token and an airdrop for the prediction market are officially coming. Modabber said the company wants the token to have “true utility” and “longevity,” and ultimately be “well done”—so the firm is taking its time with the rollout.

However, for now, Polymarket’s focus is zeroed in on relaunching its product in the U.S. after being effectively banned in 2022 via a CFTC settlement. The Polymarket U.S. app is currently in an early testing phase, with users required to receive an invitation to use the platform.

Once the leading prediction market has “taken care of business” in that regard, Modabber said, it will shift back to launching the POLY token.

“We just want to make sure that when we do shift our focus to a token, it is one of our core priorities. Right now, our core priority is launching the U.S.,” Modabber explained. “It’s not like we’re not eyeing and getting things ready. But, obviously, our focus will shift more to that once it’s time.”

The CFTC fined Polymarket $1.2 million in 2022 over alleged violations of “swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations,” which effectively banned the platform in the U.S.

Still, the platform continued to grow into the industry titan it is today, becoming a trusted source of sentiment in the U.S. elections and other categories. Troubles continued for Polymarket, though, with CEO Shayne Coplan having his home raided by the FBI late last year, having his phone and electronics seized in the process.

In July, Polymarket acquired derivatives exchange QCX, which was then issued a no-action letter by the CFTC in September. This move has effectively given Polymarket the green light to relaunch in the States, which it has been preparing for ever since.

Modabber’s statements confirm what Decrypt reported earlier this month: that a Polymarket token is coming, but that it would focus on its U.S. reentry before launching a token.

The Polymarket token has long been rumored and teased, with CEO Shayne Coplan even posting the POLY ticker on X at the start of the month. Similarly, The Information, citing unnamed sources, reported in June that Polymarket would offer token warrants to investors in its July round—giving those investors the right to purchase the POLY token should it be released.

Users on the platform have been farming a potential airdrop since at least last year. The strategies have evolved, however, with farmers now employing “more sophisticated” methods to hide their attempts to inflate their potential token allocation.

As a result of the announcement, odds on Myriad have shifted towards Polymarket announcing a token via an official channel by the end of the year. Last week, users believed there was just an 11% chance the token would be announced before 2026. Those odds have now jumped to 29% on Friday. (Disclosure: Myriad is developed by Decrypt’s parent company, Dastan.)

This follows Polymarket being valued at $9 billion, thanks to a $2 billion investment from the New York Stock Exchange’s owner, Intercontinental Exchange. The deal made Coplan the youngest self-made billionaire, according to Bloomberg.

“Jeff [Sprecher, the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange], he is a big believer in tokenization,” Coplan told TBPN, following the deal. “Polymarket is the biggest consumer product that’s built on tokenization. Under the hood, every prediction market is actually tokenized—there’s a yes token and a no token. So there’s a lot of ideas we’ve kicked around there.”