Polymarket Founder Previously Involved in Ethereum ICO

On October 13th, as per Fortune magazine, a competition for the dominant position in the prediction market is currently in progress between Kalshi and Polymarket. The prediction market has been around for many years, but it was not until 2024 that it truly gained momentum under a more lenient regulatory environment. Both companies announced new funding rounds last week. However, Polymarket's valuation reaching tens of billions of dollars has caused even greater commotion. The product differences between the two startups are almost as insignificant as those between Uber and Lyft. Apart from Kalshi having a slight edge in the regulatory process, the most notable difference is that Polymarket is built on blockchain infrastructure. Kalshi is eager to incorporate crypto features, but it is not easy to catch up with the competition. Polymarket has been conducting transactions on the Polygon Layer 2 network since its establishment, and its founder Shayne Coplan (now 27 years old) even participated in the Ethereum ICO during high school. Critics can identify many issues with Polymarket, but no one can doubt its genuine crypto background. The more difficult question is: why can Polymarket's "crypto lineage" drive its valuation significantly higher than its competitors? Especially when Kalshi has made significant inroads into the U.S. sports betting market and has far surpassed Polymarket in terms of app downloads and active users. The answer may be summed up in two words: token airdrop. Shayne Coplan posted a ranking of cryptocurrencies last week, with a (currently fictional) token named POLY ranking fifth.