Today in crypto, NYSE parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, has invested $2 billion in the crypto prediction market Polymarket at a $9 billion valuation, the European Union is reportedly considering sanctions against A7A5, a Russian ruble-backed stablecoin, and is also moving to expand its oversight of digital asset companies.
NYSE parent invests $2 billion in Polymarket at $9 billion valuation
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has invested $2 billion in cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket.
According to a Tuesday Polymarket X post, the ICE invested $2 billion in the prediction market. The deal values Polymarket at a $9 billion post-money valuation.
ICE’s NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization, exceeding $25 trillion as of July 2024. Its interest is the latest move that fuses the United States’ traditional financial landscape with the cryptocurrency industry.
Polymarket is a crypto-powered prediction market where people buy and sell “shares” in real-world event outcomes (elections, sports, crypto prices), with market prices reflecting the crowd’s implied probabilities. Trades typically settle in stablecoins, and markets are resolved against predefined, verifiable sources, with access for US users restricted due to regulatory reasons.
EU weighs sanctions on ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5: Report
The European Union is reportedly considering sanctions against A7A5, a Russian ruble-backed stablecoin that’s the world’s largest non-US-dollar pegged stablecoin.
The sanctions would prohibit EU-based organizations and individuals from engaging directly or indirectly through third parties with the token, according to a report from Bloomberg on Monday that cited documents related to the proposal.
Several banks in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia are in the firing line too, accused of enabling sanctioned entities to conduct crypto-related transactions.
The EU also imposed sanctions against crypto platforms on Sept. 19, which blocked all transactions for Russian residents and restricted dealings with foreign banks tied to the country’s sector.
A week later, A7A5’s market capitalization spiked on Sept. 26 from around $140 million to over $491 million, a 250% jump in one day, according to CoinMarketCap.
EU eyes crypto oversight under ESMA to end fragmented supervision
The EU’s markets regulator is preparing to expand its authority to cover cryptocurrency exchanges and other operators, a move officials say would better align oversight with the bloc’s newly implemented Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Verena Ross, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), confirmed in an interview with the Financial Times that the European Commission is developing plans to shift supervision of several financial sectors, including crypto, from national regulators to ESMA.
Ross said the reform would help build “a more integrated and globally competitive” EU financial landscape. The proposal aims to address “continued fragmentation in markets” and move closer to a unified capital market across Europe, she said.
Under the current MiCA regime, licences for crypto-asset service providers are issued by national authorities rather than a central EU body.
Smaller member states have so far led the rollout. Lithuania granted its first license to discount brokerage Robinhood Europe earlier this year, while Malta has authorized major exchanges, including OKX and Crypto.com. In Luxembourg, Bitstamp and Coinbase have also secured MiCA licences.
Ross argued that delegating supervision to individual countries has created inefficiencies, forcing each national authority to build its own expertise and oversight systems. ESMA has also raised concerns about inconsistent licensing standards, including a July review that criticized elements of Malta’s authorization process.
