Polymarket has appointed Lisa Mantil, a nearly three-decade veteran of Goldman Sachs, as its new head of institutional growth. This move aims to attract more liquidity from Wall Street. The announcement will be made public on Tuesday. Mantil most recently served as a Goldman partner and led the bank's ETF accelerator, an in-house platform designed to assist clients in launching investment products.
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In a statement, Mantil expressed her enthusiasm for joining Polymarket, stating it is a unique opportunity to influence a rapidly developing asset class. She noted her extensive experience in guiding institutions to adopt new products and enter emerging markets, which she plans to leverage at Polymarket as the company grows its institutional business.
This appointment follows Polymarket's recent expansion efforts, including the official launch of its U.S. exchange in May. Earlier this month, the company announced Warren Jenson as its new chief financial officer; he previously held executive roles at Amazon and Delta Air Lines.
Prediction markets, such as Polymarket, have witnessed increased trading volumes, especially from retail investors interested in sports-related markets. However, there is a concerted effort to entice institutional players to these platforms. Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan commented that Mantil's expertise and network in the institutional field make her a suitable leader for this expansion phase.
Although institutional adoption of prediction markets is still developing, and some potential participants remain cautious due to ongoing regulatory debates about oversight of sports-related contracts, platforms are actively pursuing larger traders. For instance, rival exchange Kalshi made headlines in April by becoming the first to execute a block trade—a large, privately negotiated transaction aimed at minimizing price fluctuations. Polymarket’s international platform, operating on the Polygon blockchain, achieved its first block trade shortly thereafter.
Brokers involved with early institutional participants have indicated that discussions are ongoing regarding block trades on Polymarket’s U.S. platform, which is reportedly close to facilitating such transactions. However, Polymarket declined to comment on the current status of block trades domestically.
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi maintain a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.