Polymarket Founder Shayne Coplan: Blockchain Enabled Me to Build a Global Platform From My Bedroom
Miami Beach — Shayne Coplan launched Polymarket with almost no funding, no team, and only a laptop—but blockchain made it possible.
“I’m a solo founder. I literally started with next to no money,” Coplan said at Cantor Fitzgerald’s crypto, AI, and blockchain conference on Wednesday. “Blockchain allows anyone to innovate—from a bedroom, office, or anywhere else.”
Blockchain’s open design let Coplan create a global market without traditional financial infrastructure. “Conventional finance has prohibitive entry barriers for young innovators with limited capital and time,” he explained.
Trading Real-World Outcomes
Polymarket, launched in 2020, allows users to trade on real-world events—from elections and Fed decisions to pop culture—using market-determined probabilities instead of polls or expert predictions. “Markets reflect conviction and risk, not just random opinions,” Coplan said. Each trade is peer-to-peer, with the midpoint of bids and asks representing the probability of an outcome paying out $1.
Beyond Politics: Decision-Making and Risk Management
Prediction markets can also aid broader decision-making. “You can analyze scenarios, like a candidate dropping out, and the market can help inform choices,” Coplan said. Polymarket also offers fairness compared with traditional sportsbooks, where the house controls pricing and can penalize profitable users.
AI and Niche Markets
AI agents could soon improve market efficiency by tracking news, analyzing sentiment, and correcting mispricings. “Even with limited liquidity, agents will compete to provide the most accurate pricing,” Coplan noted. He sees long-tail, niche markets as a key opportunity—smaller volumes, but unlocking new ways to measure uncertainty.
As Polymarket scales in the U.S. and launches its beta exchange, Coplan remains focused on building a platform that delivers on blockchain’s promise.
“Our goal is simple: build the best product, one people love to use, where their opinion actually matters,” he said.
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