Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) has reached an agreement to acquire The Clearing Company, a startup working to provide on-chain, compliant infrastructure for prediction markets.
The financial terms of the acquisition were not made public but are expected to close in January 2026, making it Coinbase’s tenth acquisition in 2025. The Clearing Company’s team is expected to join Coinbase to help scale its recently launched prediction markets offering.
The announcement follows Coinbase’s recent launch of prediction markets on its exchange in partnership with Kalshi, which allows users to trade event contracts on politics, economics, sports, culture, crypto, derivatives, and equities.
“The Everything Exchange will be the unified place where people can trade every asset class,” as stated in Coinbase’s blog post announcing the deal. “Prediction markets are a natural fit for this vision.”
Max Branzburg, Coinbase’s vice president of product management, described prediction markets as “an important part” of the Everything Exchange platform. The company spokesperson referred to markets linked to real-world outcomes as “a natural extension of modern financial infrastructure.”
Coinbase’s growing user engagement, regulatory clarity, and real-world applications are drivers for the category, calling it a top growth area for 2026 in its latest market outlook. It also pointed to ongoing discussions connected to taxation.
A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, effective January 2026, restricts gambling loss deductibility to 90% of winnings, potentially creating “phantom income” for traditional gamblers. Prediction markets, treated as derivatives, are exempt from this provision.
Who Is The Clearing Company, and why does Coinbase want it
Founded in 2025 by Toni Gemayel, the former head of growth at Polymarket and Kalshi, The Clearing Company’s goal is to build on-chain prediction markets compliant with regulations. Its team includes former employees of Polymarket, 0x, Dune, and Coinbase.
The startup raised $15 million in an August seed round from investors including Coinbase Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Haun Ventures. In November 2025, the company applied to the CFTC for registration as a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).
Following the acquisition, the company’s expertise in event contracts and on-chain technology is expected to speed up Coinbase’s product roadmap.
The acquisition came at a time when there was a surge of interest in prediction markets, driven by record volumes during the 2024 presidential election in the United States. Polymarket alone saw billions in trading activity on election-related contracts.
A number of companies are competing for the market, with Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) upgrading its prediction market hub to include features such as NFL parlays and props.
DraftKings also launched its Predictions app last week, available in 38 states in the United States through a CFTC-regulated framework. Decentralized platforms like Polymarket continue to draw massive offshore volume.
Coinbase’s acquisition is a testament to its efforts and plan to integrate prediction markets into mainstream regulated finance, while also expanding outside of the specialty of trading cryptocurrencies.
