Polymarket cuts jobs and contracts as Kalshi overtakes in prediction market
Prediction market startup Polymarket has laid off staff and ended contractor agreements in a reorganisation as it trails rival Kalshi in monthly trading volume. The company confirmed an internal email about the cuts, which affected more than half of contractors. Polymarket also faces a CFTC probe ov
Polymarket has cut jobs and terminated several contractor agreements in a reorganisation as the prediction market startup seeks to compete with rapidly growing rival Kalshi, the company confirmed on 12 November.
An internal email from the company, ending a contractor agreement, has been circulating on social media platform X since last week. The company confirmed on Wednesday that the email screenshot was genuine.
Once the market leader, Polymarket now trails Kalshi in monthly trading volume. The rival prediction market has benefited from expanded distribution and partnerships, including a lucrative deal for the FIFA World Cup.
Polymarket declined to disclose the percentage of total workforce affected. Over 50 per cent of the cuts were contractors, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
“As we’ve grown and brought on new leadership, we’ve reorganized to set the company up for its next phase of growth, which has meant a lot of new hires, changes in personnel and letting some people go,” the company said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Polymarket named veteran finance executive Warren Jenson as its first chief financial officer in September. It also brought on former Uber executive Travis VanderZanden as its chief growth officer this year.
Polymarket, like Kalshi, has faced government scrutiny over some of its marketing and other practices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is probing whether Polymarket violated a 2022 enforcement deal in which it promised to ban US users from its main overseas platform, Reuters reported last month, citing people familiar with the matter.
Polymarket is based in New York and has an offshore entity registered in Panama. Kalshi raised US$1 billion late last month in a funding round co-led by Sequoia and Wellington, at a valuation of US$40 billion.