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Read Full BioDonald Trump Jr. is now an advisor to two of the biggest prediction market platforms, Polymarket and Kalshi. Trump Jr. joined the Polymarket board this week as an advisor, after joining Kalshi at the start of the year.
The new role has been taken up at 1789 Capital, where Trump Jr., a partner, made a strategic investment in Polymarket.
In a press release, Trump Jr. commented: “Polymarket is the largest prediction market in the world, and the U.S. needs access to this important platform.”
Kalshi may not be pleased to see their strategic advisor declaring the need for Americans to access a rival platform.
Trump Jr. joined Kalshi as a strategic advisor in January this year. Following the platform accurately predicting his father’s election win, he posted on X that: “I immediately knew I had to contribute to their mission. Today, I am proud to announce that I am joining Kalshi as a strategic advisor.”
When announcing Trump Jr. as a strategic advisor to Kalshi in January, CEO Tarek Mansour said: “We are beyond excited to announce that Donald Trump Jr. has joined Kalshi as a Strategic Advisor.”
Mansour has not commented on the news that the president’s son is now an advisor at Polymarket, but he is unlikely to be as enthusiastic.
Polymarket & Kalshi Public Feud Ramps Up
The tensions between Polymarket and Kalshi have been escalating as the platforms prepare to compete directly in the US market. Polymarket has been targeting US users again, following its acquisition of QCEX, an exchange licensed to operate in the country.
The platform was required to close all accounts of US customers in 2022 and pay a fine of $1.4 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). QCEX obtained a license from the CFTC, which is now under new administration, earlier this year.
Polymarket’s founder and CEO, Shayne Coplan, referred to Kalshi as a “copycat” site. Mansour responded by saying Polymarket was copying Kalshi with its acquisition of QCEX.
Mansour added: “We’re squarely in the lead position with a very, very strong head start because of an unwavering commitment to build it legally, build it credibly in the U.S. And now other people are trying to sort of replicate the setup and do the same exact things that we’ve done over the last few years.”
That now includes signing Trump Jr. as an advisor.
It also follows a battle to do a deal with Elon Musk. Musk’s company, xAI, partnered with Polymarket earlier this year. The partnership came after Kalshi had announced that it had done a deal with the company, only for xAI to deny a deal.
Trump Media Finalizes Deal With Crypto.com
Meanwhile, to make matters more complicated, Trump Media Group has announced a deal with another rival prediction market platform, Crypto.com.
Trump Media and Crypto.com are partnering to launch Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, Inc. This firm will be dedicated to holding and managing CRO, the native token of Crypto.com.
The venture will invest over $6 billion, with a large portion of the funds coming from SPAC Yorkville Acquisition Corp, a firm with strong ties to Trump Media.
The CRO token will be integrated across Truth Social. At the same time, Polymarket is active across rival social media platform X. Trump Jr. is also a board member at Trump Media Group.
And finally, we should not forget that President Donald Trump has nominated Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz to lead the CFTC. His position remains in the balance after the White House delayed a vote on his appointment.
