Polymarket reportedly raises $300M from Donald Trump Jr.'s fund

Prediction market Polymarket has reportedly raised $300 million from 1789 Capital as part of a new funding round totaling around $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. 1789 Capital, an investment fund in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, had previously invested $200 million in the prediction site. The firm has also funded other controversial tech-related projects, including the Enhanced Games, the so-called “steroid Olympics” founded by veterans of various tech companies. TechCrunch has reached out to Polymarket for comment.

The reported round comes as prediction markets face increased regulatory scrutiny, with many state governments seeking to institute new rules around how, or even if, the sites can be used by residents. At least 20 states are engaged in litigation against prediction sites over sports wagers offered on those sites.

The federal government, meanwhile, has frequently sought to defend the prediction industry from state regulation. The Trump administration has argued that the sole regulator of the industry should be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not state governments, and the CFTC has sued at least nine states over their attempts to regulate the industry. A coalition of 44 state attorneys general recently signed a letter arguing the CFTC does not have the authority to regulate sports-related wagers on prediction sites.

The New York Times has reported that Donald Trump Jr. recently appeared at an event involving conservative state attorneys general, where he described the prediction industry as already having “robust oversight” and characterized prediction sites as a tool “overseen by federal officials, not state attorneys general.”

Why it matters

A fresh round tied to the president’s son would deepen the Trump family’s financial stake in prediction markets just as the industry leans on the federal government to shield it from state-level regulation.