FEBRUARY 25: In this photo illustration, Apps for online prediction market sites are shown on an electronic device on February 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Online prediction market platforms allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/
WASHINGTON (TNND) —An investment firm, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, is making a major bet on the prediction-market platform Polymarket, leading a new $1 billion funding round that values the company at about $21 billion.
1789 Capital, a Florida-based venture capital firm where Trump Jr. is a partner, is said to be investing another $300 million on top of roughly $200 million it had already invested.
The deal is drawing attention as prediction markets such as Polymarket and its rival, Kalshi, have surged in popularity over the past year, with millions of users betting billions of dollars on real-world events. The platforms allow users to bet money on outcomes tied to current events, from politics to entertainment. Events include who will win the Super Bowl, who will win “Love Island” or whether the U.S. will take military action abroad. If a user’s prediction is right, they can make money; if it’s wrong, someone else does. The platforms make money by placing fees on each bet.
Kalshi has also made headlines this week after banning former Republican Congressman George Santos. The company took the action after Santos placed bets earlier this year on his own potential appearance at the State of the Union.
Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, has ties to both Polymarket and Kalshi and is an advisor to both companies. When he joined Kalshi as an advisor last year, he received company shares reportedly worth more than $300,000.
The investment is also being closely watched because it comes as the Trump administration has taken a friendly approach to prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that oversees the industry, has praised the companies and challenged state efforts to regulate them, and the leader of that commission is a Trump appointee.
Critics have raised questions about whether the president’s son’s business ties could give the platforms an edge when it comes to federal regulations, or a lack thereof. There are also broader concerns about the industry, including whether people with inside information could profit from bets on politics, wars or other major events.
Trump Jr. has said he invests as a private citizen and does not hold a policy role in his father’s administration. As more money tied to the Trump family flows into Polymarket, questions about who profits — and who regulates the industry — are growing louder.
