JPMorgan Cut Polymarket’s Bank Account in October 2025, FT Reports

JPMorgan Chase told Polymarket in October 2025 that it had to find a new banking partner, according to the Financial Times, ending a relationship the bank had decided was too risky to keep. Polymarket has since moved its accounts to an undisclosed lender, but JPMorgan has not fully cut ties: the bank is reportedly still interested in underwriting a future Polymarket public offering.

The move puts a hard date and a named counterparty on what has largely been a background story about prediction markets’ fraught relationship with traditional finance. For a platform that has spent years fighting for legitimacy in the US, losing a top-tier banking partner — even while keeping informal access to that same bank — illustrates how selectively Wall Street is willing to engage with the sector.

A $1.4 million settlement shadows Polymarket’s US return

Polymarket’s history with US regulators is the backdrop to JPMorgan’s decision. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission barred Polymarket from serving US users in 2022 after the platform paid a $1.4 million settlement for operating an unregistered derivatives trading venue.

Polymarket returned to the US market in late 2025 after the Trump administration loosened federal rules governing prediction markets. That reentry appears to have coincided with, or shortly followed, JPMorgan’s decision to end the banking relationship, suggesting the bank’s risk calculus did not shift alongside the regulatory environment that allowed Polymarket back in.

JPMorgan keeps a foot in the door

Despite pulling standard banking services, JPMorgan has reportedly maintained a working relationship with Polymarket. The bank invited Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan to speak at a private client conference in February 2026, and it is said to remain keen on an underwriting role if Polymarket pursues an initial public offering.

Polymarket described its current standing with JPMorgan as a “close, active relationship,” according to Cointelegraph. The split, in other words, appears narrowly transactional — a decision to shed direct banking exposure to a regulatorily contentious platform while preserving the option to profit from its future capital-markets activity.

Regulators keep pressure on prediction markets

The banking shift lands amid a broader regulatory squeeze on prediction markets in the US and abroad. More than a dozen US states have taken legal action against Polymarket, Kalshi, or both over sports event contracts, and several countries have blocked or restricted access to Polymarket outright.

That patchwork of enforcement actions is likely what drove JPMorgan’s compliance teams to reassess the relationship in the first place. Banks weighing exposure to fast-growing but legally contested platforms face a familiar trade-off: the compliance cost of an active banking relationship versus the strategic value of staying close to a potential future client for underwriting, custody, or advisory business.

Why it matters for the market

For Polymarket users and prospective investors, the episode is a reminder that regulatory uncertainty around prediction markets has not disappeared even as federal rules loosened in late 2025. A major bank quietly walking away from routine banking services — while keeping IPO ambitions alive — signals that Wall Street sees value in the platform’s long-term trajectory but still prices in meaningful legal risk today.

Neither JPMorgan nor Polymarket has publicly confirmed the details beyond the Financial Times’ sourcing, and both Cointelegraph and CoinDesk noted they had sought comment from the companies involved. Polymarket has not disclosed the name of its replacement banking partner.

Sources

• cointelegraph.com
• coindesk.com