Coinbase agrees to acquire The Clearing Company

Coinbase has agreed to acquire The Clearing Company, one of the newly created prediction markets. The prediction markets startup will be acquired in a cash-and-stock deal.

Coinbase will expand its prediction market business after agreeing to acquire The Clearing Company. The startup will be fully acquired in an unannounced deal of cash and stock. Coinbase announced that The Clearing Company will serve as the platform’s in-house prediction team and work on expanding the offerings of prediction pairs. 

The announcement arrives just days after Coinbase shared its plans to expand into prediction markets. The Clearing Company is already connected to Coinbase Ventures via a $15M seed round. 

The deal is expected to close in January, as the startup’s team will join to work on Coinbase’s own product. The Clearing Company previously built itself for full compliance, while remaining permissionless and fully on-chain. 

The Clearing Company may turn Coinbase into the Everything Exchange

The Clearing Company was launched by Tony Gemayel, a former growth manager at both Polymarket and Kalshi. The Coinbase decision arrives after other prediction markets strengthened their in-house teams and invited specialized traders. Coinbase has announced upcoming prediction markets in sports, crypto, as well as current events in politics and culture. The expansion arrives just as Polymarket is trying to bring back its business to the USA. 

In addition to expertise, The Clearing Company may also bring full compliance with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, to become a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO). If the CFTC approves the filing, the prediction platform will also become the first stablecoin-based clearing house. 

Coinbase will also acquire a team of prediction market veterans, helping to shape the modern market landscape. By adding prediction markets, Coinbase aims to turn into a part of the Everything exchange, a hub of multiple on-chain activities. 

Prediction markets turned into a booming crypto space, crossing over into mainstream activity. Almost every platform has attempted to create its own version of a prediction market, while Polymarket and Kalshi have remained the leaders over the past two months. Competition is increasing and challenging the first movers. 

Prediction markets reach new records

Prediction markets are shifting to new records at the end of 2025. The platforms are becoming more diverse, with Polymarket, Kalshi, and Opinion leading the way. 

The market reached a weekly peak of $4B in notional volume. Prediction markets offer a mix of current events, as well as short-term markets linked to the prices of assets. 

Compared to crypto platforms, prediction markets seem relatively small. However, the platforms are still mostly linked to small-scale users and have a smaller share of bot activity. Currently, Polymarket has added accounts that appear to be automated trading, which seek out price inefficiencies. 

The other problem for prediction markets is the settlement of contentious issues and the clear definition of exact resolutions.

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