Coinbase, the largest American cryptocurrency firm, has reached an agreement to acquire The Clearing Company, a startup focused on developing online prediction markets.
First we announced prediction markets on Coinbase.
Now we’re bringing in the specialized talent to take our plans to the next level.
Welcome to Coinbase, @theclearingco. pic.twitter.com/KfRZSp9w9j
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) December 22, 2025
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but it is expected to close in January 2026.
The announcement of the startup’s acquisition came just days after launching prediction markets in partnership with Kalshi. Other product updates at the time included stock trading, a stablecoin platform, and payment infrastructure.
According to Coinbase, the team from The Clearing Company, led by founder Tony Jamail, will join the firm. The experienced specialists are expected to help scale trading in the prediction segment and accelerate the realization of ambitions in this category to build an “exchange for everything.”
On-chain prediction platforms became one of the financial trends in 2025. According to The Block, the two largest players in this field — Polymarket and Kalshi — recorded record activity in November. The combined trading volume for the month reached approximately $8 billion.
A number of fintech and crypto projects, including Robinhood, Gemini, and PancakeSwap, have joined this direction. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao introduced the predict.fun platform based on BNB Chain.
Expert Warns of Prediction Market Boom Risks
The introduction of prediction markets by fintech companies could lead to an accelerated user churn similar to casinos, according to Santiago Santos, founder and CEO of venture firm Inversion Capital.
Casinos serve just enough alcohol to increase the house edge, but not enough to make players leave the table
Financial superapps are attempting the same optimization. The failure mode is over-extraction → churn
Full analysis:https://t.co/kKfREBJcTk pic.twitter.com/Lu4kunSJhH
— Santiago R Santos (@santiagoroel) December 21, 2025
“The longer you stay in a casino, the higher the likelihood of liquidation. This means you are completely out of the game. A knocked-out user is worth nothing,” the expert noted.
He emphasized that integrating such services aims at speculative profit, bringing short-term income. However, it threatens long-term financial results due to customer loss.
“Products like Robinhood initially succeed because they are simpler, more accessible, and more digitally oriented than traditional market players. […] But users age. Over time, the real opportunity lies in growing with them and gaining more from their financial lives, rather than maximizing profit at the peak of speculation,” Santos stressed.
Fintech companies should prioritize offerings that users will naturally want to acquire as they “financially mature,” such as credit cards, insurance, and savings tools.
Market participants optimizing through gambling-related products may appear stronger initially. However, they will ultimately lose to competitors who view customer churn as a primary risk, the head of Inversion Capital is convinced.
“This trade-off is not obvious. But it is what matters. Casinos serve just enough alcohol to increase the house edge, but not so much that players get drunk and leave the table. Maintaining such a balance is difficult,” Santos concluded.
Experts from market maker Keyrock believe that prediction platforms are becoming a leading indicator of key economic data.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin opines that prediction markets serve as an effective filter against fake news and panic.