Coinbase agrees to buy The Clearing Company to deepen prediction markets push

Coinbase (COIN) said it agreed to buy The Clearing Company to help grow its newly launched prediction market as part of the crypto exchange's plan to become an all-in-one platform for trading everything.

San Francisco-based The Clearing Company is a startup led by Toni Gemayel, who has worked extensively in the industry including as the head of growth at prediction market Kalshi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The transaction, which is expected to close in January, comes as prediction markets pick up steam, with weekly notional volume now topping $4 billion according to Dune analytics data. Last week, Coinbase started letting users trade on the outcomes of real-world events in partnership with Kalshi. The events range from political elections and economic reports to cultural moments and sports.

Coinbase said the deal will bring in a team with specialized experience building and scaling event-based trading systems. It includes veterans at Polymarket, a blockchain-based platform, as well as a former chief compliance officer at Kalshi.

Last week, the exchange said it plans to expand the functionality available on its platform to also include novel cryptocurrencies, perpetual futures contracts and stocks as well as prediction markets.

It is using the initiative to position itself as the “Everything Exchange.” The company’s rivals, including Robinhood, Kraken and Gemini, have already started launching equity trading and predictions markets to their users.

In August, The Clearing Company raised $15 million in a seed round led by Union Square Ventures and in which Coinbase Ventures participated. Last month, it applied for a license to run a clearinghouse from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Read more: Prediction markets beat Wall Street in forecasting inflation, Kalshi says