Discovered Crypto at 14, Built $9B Company: Polymarket CEO

Shayne Coplan built Polymarket from his bathroom during COVID. Now 27, he’s the youngest self-made billionaire after a $9B valuation.

Shayne Coplan discovered cryptocurrency at 14 while downloading pirated music. The teen then emailed the SEC asking how to create new marketplaces. At 16, he bought Ethereum at $0.30 during its first presale.

According to a LinkedIn post by Vlad Svitanko, Coplan enrolled at NYU for computer science. He dropped out after one semester. The post reveals he showed up uninvited at Genius HQ at 16 and landed a job.

Coplan tried multiple crypto projects. None worked. He found himself broke in Manhattan, inventorying belongings to pay rent.

From Bathroom Lockdown to Regulatory Battles

COVID hit in 2020. Coplan locked himself in his bathroom and built a product during lockdown. That product became Polymarket.

Regulators fined him $1.4 million in 2022. They banned him from operating in the U.S. He kept building anyway.

The platform called Trump’s election win in 2024 before anyone else. Svitanko’s post notes that $3.6 billion in election bets flowed through Polymarket. One week later, the FBI raided Coplan’s apartment at 6 am. Agents seized his phone and devices.

His response on X? “New phone, who dis?”

_Related Reading: _****Polymarket Founder Hints at Upcoming POLY Token Launch

NYSE Owner Invests $2 Billion as Valuation Soars

All investigations dropped in 2025. The NYSE owner invested $2 billion for 25% of Polymarket in October 2025. The investment pushed the valuation to $9 billion.

Coplan turned 27. He became the youngest self-made billionaire on earth, according to the post.

No fancy office. No MBA. The founder built a $15 billion company without permission, Svitanko claims. The Cryptorsy Ventures founder calls Coplan “the smartest kid of this century.”

Polymarket continues operating from outside U.S. borders. The platform has become a major player in prediction markets. Work to relaunch in the US is still in progress. As reported by Live Bitcoin News in early November, Polymarket quietly relaunched a U.S. beta, letting select users place real bets after a $1.4M CFTC fine and QCX acquisition.