Polymarket trims workforce under investor pressure as Kalshi surges ahead

Prediction market platform Polymarket has cut jobs and ended contractor agreements as it reshapes its business amid investor pressure and growing competition from rival Kalshi.

The company confirmed the cuts but did not say how many people were affected, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Polymarket said the changes involved “a lot of new hires, changes in personnel and letting some people go.”

It also confirmed that an email that has been circulating on X describing a “company-wide reduction in force” is real. More than half of those affected were contractors.

The cuts follow pressure from investors on founder Shayne Coplan to bring more discipline to the business, according to the report.

Polymarket, which lets users bet on the outcomes of elections, sports and other events, now trails Kalshi in monthly trading volume, according to DeFiLlama data.

The shift in market share comes as both firms seek to draw more users to prediction markets, where traders buy and sell contracts based on the odds of real-world events.

Polymarket has also made changes to its leadership team, naming former Amazon finance chief Warren Jenson as its first chief financial officer in September.

The reorganization follows the reported dismissal of marketing chief Matthew Modabber in October after an internal probe into alleged misconduct.

Polymarket did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.