Posted on: May 19, 2026, 01:32h.
Last updated on: May 19, 2026, 01:32h.
- The prediction market operator is broadening access to large privately held companies
- News arrives as investors prepare for some of the largest IPOs in history
- Polymarket is partnering with Nasdaq Private Market
Polymarket is partnering with Nasdaq Private Market (NPM) on event contracts tied to some of the world’s largest privately held companies.
The prediction market operator said today it’s teaming up with Nasdaq on derivatives that could broaden traders’ access to companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. To be clear, the private market addition to Polymarket will be in the form of standard event contracts and is not an avenue for traders to access equity in closely held entities.
By pairing Polymarket’s prediction market infrastructure with Nasdaq Private Market’s authoritative data on primary and secondary market activity, the new offering gives individuals a transparent way to engage with verifiable private company events, which may include valuation milestones, IPO timing and secondary market activity,” according to a statement.
Nasdaq Private Market, which provides infrastructure and liquidity in private markets, will act as the resolution data provider for the private market derivatives offered by Polymarket.
Good Timing for Polymarket Private Market Offering
Polymarket’s private market offering could be well-received by traders of all stripes and for multiple reasons at that, not the least of which is the fact that some of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in history are imminent.
At an expected valuation of $1.75 trillion, SpaceX is expected to go public next month in the biggest IPO ever. Reports suggest artificial intelligence (AI) giants Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, and OpenAI could go public later this year, potentially at $1 trillion-plus multiples.
Those figures confirm there’s clear enthusiasm for select private companies, but for many market participants, even some professionals, access to shares of those firms is hard to come by. That implies there may be strong institutional reception for Polymarket’s private company platform.
“More value is being created in private companies today than at any point in modern history,” according to the Nasdaq/Polymarket statement. “Nearly 1,600 unicorns globally now hold more than $5 trillion in cumulative value, yet access has been largely reserved for institutions and high-net-worth investors – leaving the vast majority of individuals on the sidelines of the value creation that happens before a company goes public.”
At valuations of $15 billion and $22 billion, respectively, Polymarket and rival Kalshi are part of that group of unicorns.
Polymarket Looking to Boost Institutional Appeal
It’s no secret that large prediction market operators, including Kalshi and Polymarket, derive significant percentages of their volume from sports derivatives, but those companies are attempting to reduce dependence on sports by rolling out products and services aimed at institutional investors.
“The new offering also creates an additional price discovery tool for institutional investors, complementing NPM’s transaction-based pricing data already relied on by some of the largest financial institutions in the world,” as noted in the Polymarket statement.
An interesting aside: Polymarket and Nasdaq make for interesting bedfellows because the prediction market operator’s largest financial backer is Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
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