Predictive Market Exchange Polymarket has hired a veteran who has worked at Goldman Sachs for nearly thirty years to help the company advance its plan to attract liquidity from Wall Street.
Polymarket indicated to CNBC prior to the announcement on Tuesday that Lisa Mantil would take on the role of head of institutional growth for the company. Mantil's most recent position was as a partner at Goldman Sachs and the global head of ETF at that firm; ETF is an internal platform at Goldman Sachs that assists clients in launching investment products.
Mantil stated in the declaration: "Having the opportunity to join Polymarket and help shape this asset class, which is at a turning point of development and experiencing rapid expansion, is a rare opportunity. Throughout my career, I have been guiding institutions to adopt new products and enter new markets. I look forward to bringing these experiences to Polymarket to help us build our institutional business and expand the role of predictive markets in investment and risk management strategies."
Mantil is the latest recruitment in Polymarket's ongoing expansion process. Since the company officially launched its US exchange in May, it has continued to expand its team.
In August, as reported by CNBC, international and domestic platforms in the United States were both conducting a series of new recruitments; earlier this month, the company also announced the appointment of Warren Jenson as Chief Financial Officer. Jenson previously held positions at companies such as Amazon and Delta Air Lines.
Predictive market – with trading volume increasing significantly over the past year, largely due to retail traders interested in sports-related products – is increasingly hoping to attract institutional liquidity into the platform. Polymarket The CEO and founder, Shayne Coplan, stated in a statement that Mantil is the right person to lead the company's latest business expansion.
“Coplan” indicates that “Lisa’s experience and network in the institutional field are world-class.”
Institutions engaged in predicting markets are still in the early stages, and some participants are still on the sidelines, as various platforms are in regulatory disputes with different states over who has the authority to oversee contracts related to sports events. However, this has not prevented these platforms from attracting large traders.
Competitor Kalshi became the first exchange to complete a block trade in April. Block trades are large-scale transactions negotiated privately to avoid price fluctuations, which are common on Wall Street. The international platform of Polymarket is not regulated by the United States and operates on the Polygon blockchain; it also completed its first block trade in the following month.
Brokers that have collaborated with early institutional participants told CNBC, Polymarket has discussed completing large-scale transactions on its US exchanges and is nearing the capability to do so.
Polymarket refuses to comment on the progress of large-scale transactions on its US domestic platform.
Disclosure:CNBC has a business relationship with Kalshi, which includes customer acquisition and a small amount of equity investment.
