Coinbase Acquiring The Clearing Company To Help Power Prediction Markets
Crypto exchange Coinbase is continuing to make moves to bolster its new prediction market offerings. Coinbase announced today that it is acquiring The Clearing Company, a prediction market startup that is awaiting approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for designation as a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).
In its announcement, Coinbase said the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and that it is expected to close in January. The company did not disclose the terms of the deal.
The Clearing Company employees will add “the specialized talent needed to take this category further,” the company said in the announcement. Coinbase says The Clearing Company team “will help scale world-class prediction markets trading on Coinbase and accelerate our ambitions for this exciting category as part of the Everything Exchange.”
First we announced prediction markets on Coinbase.
Now we’re bringing in the specialized talent to take our plans to the next level.
Welcome to Coinbase, @theclearingco. pic.twitter.com/KfRZSp9w9j
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) December 22, 2025
Acquisition allows Coinbase to become full-service prediction platform
Coinbase announced last week that it was beginning to roll out prediction markets on its app, with the event contracts being powered by Kalshi.
Once The Clearing Company receives approval from the CFTC as a DCO, Coinbase will be able to clear trades and handle transactions all in-house. Coinbase already has a full slate of CFTC approvals. As a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant, Coinbase is able to partner with Kalshi and other Designated Contract Markets (DCM) to offer prediction markets on its platform.
But Coinbase itself, through its Coinbase Derivatives, LLC subsidiary, is already a CFTC-registered DCM, following its 2022 acquisition of FairX/LMX Labs, LLC, which had the approval.
As a DCM and DCO, Coinbase could become a full-service prediction market provider, able to self-certify and offer new CFTC-compliant contracts while also handling the backend finances behind the contracts. Becoming a DCM and DCO would allow Kalshi to not be dependent on outside clearing service providers or DCMs like Kalshi.
The Clearing Company acquisition puts Coinbase another step closer to its goal of becoming an “everything exchange,” which the company says will be a “unified place where people can trade every asset class.”
“Prediction markets are a natural fit for this vision,” Coinbase said in the announcement. “Bringing together regulated market access and deep event-contract expertise sets us up to expand over time, and we’re excited to work with The Clearing Co. team to build this next chapter at Coinbase.”
The recent moves follow another aspiring “everything app,” Robinhood, going all in on prediction markets. While currently also offering event contracts via Kalshi, the retail broker announced last month that it was building its own in-house prediction exchange with Susquehanna International Group.
Clearing Co. brings experienced prediction market team to Coinbase
Coinbase CEO Brian Amrstrong posted on social media that, with the Clearing Company acquisition, the company was bringing in “the team that helped make prediction markets what they are today.”
The Clearing Company was founded by CEO Toni Gemayel, who this decade has worked as Head of Growth at both Kalshi and Polymarket. Many of the core team members behind The Clearing Company also previously worked at Polymarket, including engineers Nick Beattie, Daniel Ramirez, and Liam Kovatch, who was Polymarket’s Head of Engineering for three and a half years.
In August, The Clearing Company, which described itself as an “onchain, permissionless and regulated prediction market,” announced $15 million in seed-round funding. Leading the round was Union Square Ventures, which has previously invested in several other technology and finance businesses, including Coinbase. Coinbase Ventures also participated in The Clearing Company’s seed round.
The Clearing Company announced in November that it had applied for DCO status. At the time, the company said that, if approved, it would allow The Clearing Company to “operate the first stablecoin-native clearinghouse purpose-built for prediction markets, designed to bring this emerging market category fully onchain and under a regulated framework.”
Coinbase joins in prediction market regulatory battle
Coinbase wasted no time in defending prediction markets from challenges to their sports event contracts by state gaming regulators and others who say they are offering unlawful sports betting in their jurisdictions.
A founding member of a newly-announced industry group, the Coalition for Prediction Markets, Coinbase filed lawsuits against Illinois, Connecticut and Michigan gaming regulators and attorneys general last week on the day after announcing its prediction market rollout. Similar to other suits filed by the likes of Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com, Coinbase is seeking to halt states from barring sports prediction markets, arguing that they are derivatives markets federally regulated solely by the CFTC.
Prediction markets fall under the @CFTC. Any state saying otherwise is keeping Americans from accessing tools that help them get ahead. https://t.co/rACUwXRziN
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 21, 2025