Polymarket CEO calls Kalshi ‘copycat’

CEO Shayne Coplan dismisses the competitor’s originality in public remarks.

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan has publicly called rival Kalshi “a Polymarket copycat” during an interview on CNBC. 

The remark was Coplan’s direct response when he was asked to differentiate the two platforms.

Although Kalshi was founded earlier, in 2018, while Polymarket was founded two years after, Coplan argued that it was Polymarket that brought real attention and growth to the industry.

“Polymarket has become this cultural phenomenon. People looked at its success internationally and said, ‘how can we just copy and emulate this as much as possible in the US?’” he stated.

He added that the recent QCEX acquisition now allows Polymarket to serve futures commission merchants and retail users alike.

“It’s kind of the perfect asset,” Coplan said. “They all know and love Polymarket and now we’re able to finally meet that demand.”

Good to know: Polymarket acquired QCEX for $11.2m to secure a regulated pathway back into the US 

Polymarket had previously been fined $1.4m in 2022 for operating an unregistered event-based binary options market.

With the regulatory issue now resolved, the platform is expected to move forward with its original plans to launch legally in the US.

While Coplan highlighted brand strength and organic user adoption as Polymarket’s edge, he acknowledged that future competition is likely to increase as the market matures.

Carlos Mendez

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