Polymarket Hires Goldman Vet for Institutional Push — SkimNews
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- Polymarket hired Lisa Mantil as head of institutional growth; Mantil was most recently a Goldman partner and global head of its in-house ETF accelerator, with a career spanning nearly three decades at the bank.
- Shayne Coplan, Polymarket's CEO and founder, called Mantil's experience and relationships across the institutional world 'world class' in the announcement.
- Warren Jenson joined Polymarket as CFO earlier this month after prior roles at Amazon and Delta Air Lines, part of a broader hiring push following the official U.S. exchange launch in May.
- Polymarket's international platform, which runs on the Polygon blockchain and is not U.S.-regulated, completed its first block trade one month after rival Kalshi completed the industry's first block trade in April.
- Prediction markets have seen volume surges driven mainly by retail interest in sports offerings, yet platforms are now courting institutional liquidity while fighting a regulatory brawl with states over who oversees sports-related event contracts.
- Brokers working with early institutional participants told CNBC that Polymarket has held discussions about completing block trades on its U.S. exchange and is 'nearing the ability to do so'; the company declined to comment on status.
Why it matters: Prediction markets are racing to professionalize before regulators close in: Mantil's hire comes after Kalshi seized first-mover status on block trades, and Polymarket brokers say the company is nearing that same milestone on its U.S. exchange. Institutional capital is unlikely to commit at scale while the state-level regulatory fight over sports-event contracts remains unresolved.
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