Coinbase Goes All-In on Prediction Markets with New Acquisition — WSJ
By Vicky Ge HuangCrypto exchange Coinbase Global is pushing deeper into the popular prediction markets space by buying startup The Clearing Company.The move comes after Coinbase rolled out prediction markets, powered by specialist Kalshi, to its users last week. Prediction markets allow users to bet on yes-or-no questions regarding the outcomes of everything ranging from sports games to elections.San Francisco-based Clearing Co. was founded by prediction-market veteran Toni Gemayel, who worked as head of growth at Kalshi before taking a job at rival Polymarket. Kalshi and Polymarket are the dominant players in prediction markets.Coinbase said the acquisition will help scale prediction markets trading on Coinbase as the company expands outside of crypto to become an "everything exchange," a one-stop shop that offers a wide array of financial services and products.Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. Shares of Coinbase were up about 3% in morning trading.This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).