Polymarket to open New York’s first free grocery store

Kalshi held a similar promotion

On 3 February, the prediction platform Polymarket announced the launch of “New York’s first free grocery store,” dubbed The Polymarket.

After months of planning, we’re excited to announce ‘The Polymarket’ is coming to New York City.

New York’s first free grocery store.

We signed the lease. And we donated $1 million to Food Bank For NYC — an organization that changes how our city responds to hunger. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/BGMCWUMz8n

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) February 3, 2026

“Free groceries. Free markets. Built for the people who move New York forward,” the team wrote.

The platform also donated $1m to Food Bank For NYC to help people with limited access to food across the city’s five boroughs.

Polymarket said it had been preparing the grocery store for months. It will open on 12 February at noon local time and run for five days.

The community received the move positively. Some offered to stock the store with their own products; the prediction‑market team said it would make that possible in future.

Others poked fun at Polymarket, posting AI‑generated images of The Polymarket “a few days after opening”:

Can’t wait to see it look like this pic.twitter.com/sWAB0kWsUu

— FloridaManStan (@FLManStan) February 3, 2026

A heated rivalry

Kalshi held a similar promotion at Westside Market, offering $50 of groceries to the first 1,000 people.

Thousands have already picked up their free Kalshi groceries!

We are being told we’ve already inspired other companies to keep up the initiative!

2 more hours to get yours

Westside Market | 84 3rd Ave. NYC pic.twitter.com/8R11OGODLu

— Kalshi (@Kalshi) February 3, 2026

According to social‑media posts, the line stretched for several blocks, and 1,795 people registered for the event.

Community members criticised the platform, accusing it of stealing Polymarket’s idea.

Polymarket had been preparing for this since November and donated $1M and you only $50? This is an attempt to steal the idea pic.twitter.com/Seaguwv041

— Atlantis liquidity (@Atlantislq) February 4, 2026

“Polymarket had been preparing for this since November and donated $1m and you only $50? I think this is an attempt to steal the idea,” one user said.

Another user called Kalshi’s initiative “sad,” arguing the platform could simply have teamed up with Polymarket instead.

New entrants

On 2 February, Coinbase launched a prediction platform in partnership with Kalshi.

Put your money where you mind is.

Trade the Big Game on Coinbase. pic.twitter.com/MFKJpCdP5M

— Coinbase Predict (@CoinbasePredict) February 2, 2026

News of the new product first emerged in mid‑December. Following the announcement, the exchange filed lawsuits against the authorities of Michigan, Illinois and Connecticut. The platform said oversight of prediction markets lies with the CFTC, rather than local gambling regulators.

In response, Coinbase itself faced a lawsuit from the Nevada gambling regulator, which accused the exchange of running unlicensed sports betting.

At the same time, Crypto․com carved out its prediction‑markets business into a separate platform called OG.

Welcome to the new era of social prediction markets with OG. Thrilled to finally unveil what we believe will be the best sports prediction market offering, and the leader of a new way to socially engage with event contracts. Thrilled to see Nick Lundgren taking on the CEO role —…

— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) February 3, 2026

“Over the past six months we have seen 40x weekly growth in our predictions business. Such growth warrants focused effort and a separate platform,” said exchange CEO Kris Marszalek.

OG runs on Crypto․com Derivatives North America (CDNA), a CFTC‑registered exchange and clearinghouse. For now, the service is available only to users in the United States.

Earlier, the DEX for perpetuals trading Hyperliquid announced a prediction‑markets platform.

Earlier in February, the Solana‑based liquidity aggregator Jupiter integrated Polymarket.