Polymarket cuts jobs, contracts as prediction market competition heats up

By Pritam Biswas

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Polymarket has cut jobs and terminated several contractor agreements in a reorganization as the prediction market startup seeks to compete with rapidly growing rival Kalshi.

An internal email from the company, ending a contractor agreement, has been doing the rounds on social media platform X since last week. The company confirmed on Wednesday that the email screenshot was genuine.

Once the market leader, Polymarket now trails Kalshi in monthly trading volume. The rival prediction market has benefited from expanded distribution and partnerships, including a lucrative deal for the FIFA World Cup.

Polymarket declined to disclose the percentage of total workforce affected. Over 50% of the cuts were contractors, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"As we’ve grown and brought on new leadership, we’ve reorganized to set the company up for its next phase of growth, which has meant a lot of new hires, changes in personnel and letting some people go,” the company said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

Polymarket named veteran finance executive Warren Jenson as its first chief financial officer in September. It also brought on former Uber executive Travis VanderZanden as its chief growth officer ​this year.

"We're reaching out with difficult news. As part of a company-wide reduction in force, we’ve made the decision to end your contractor agreement with Polymarket effective November 4, 2026," the internal email posted on social media read.

Polymarket, like Kalshi, has faced government scrutiny over some of its marketing and other practices.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is probing whether Polymarket violated a 2022 enforcement deal in which it promised to ban US users from its main overseas platform, Reuters reported last month, citing people familiar with the matter.

Polymarket is based in New ​York and has an offshore entity registered in Panama.

Kalshi raised $1 billion late last month in a funding round co-led by Sequoia and Wellington, at a valuation of $40 billion.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)