Coinbase Ventures and CMCC Global Back Raven in Latest Prediction‑market Funding Round

Coinbase Ventures and CMCC Global have taken part in a strategic funding round for trading firm Raven, the company and CNBC reported on 29 September 2026. The size of the investment was not disclosed; CNBC said Raven carried a $90m pre-money valuation for the round. Raven is a Bulgaria-based market-making and high-frequency trading firm active across prediction markets, crypto exchanges and DeFi venues.

What Raven does and where it operates

Raven provides continuous market-making and high-frequency trading services that supply liquidity to prediction markets and other platforms. The firm says it is active on Polymarket, Kalshi and Gemini Predictions and provides liquidity across more than 30 centralized and decentralized exchanges. Raven’s team includes former members of Wintermute’s DeFi trading unit, and its earlier backers included Hack VC and Wintermute Ventures.

Market makers continuously quote buy and sell prices so traders can enter and exit positions with less price impact. As platforms add thousands of newly listed markets and trading volumes grow, the technical and capital demands on market makers increase.

Why the financing matters for prediction-market infrastructure

The round highlights investor interest in the infrastructure layer that supports consumer-facing exchanges. Raven’s funding channels capital into the background plumbing: market-making desks, execution algorithms, risk capital and connectivity into multiple venues. Those services matter when order books expand and volatility rises.

Vendors and trading firms that provide multi-venue liquidity tend to face higher operational complexity because they must manage risk across centralised and decentralised venues simultaneously. Raven’s stated footprint across Polymarket, Kalshi and Gemini Predictions positions it in that cross‑venue role.

Sector funding flows and scale of the market

Prediction market companies raised about $6.4bn in 2025 and 2026, according to Dealroom data. Before 2025, annual funding for the sector rarely exceeded roughly $50m. Kalshi and Polymarket accounted for almost all of the $6.4bn; investors have put about $6.3bn into those two firms since June 2025. Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has invested about $1.6bn in Polymarket since 2025 and has signalled potential further commitments.

Industry volume numbers underline the capital shifts. Kalshi and Polymarket generated $53bn in combined global trading volume during July 2026, the Pew Research Center reported. Their combined volume reached roughly $212bn during the first seven months of 2026, while July’s total was more than double the $25.7bn recorded in May 2026.

Those expanding volumes have already forced analysts to revise estimates. Bernstein raised its 2026 trading-volume projection from about $240bn (April) to roughly $410bn, and now models long‑run annual volume of $10tn by 2035. Consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimated prediction markets could create a $3bn–$5bn annual revenue pool for financial market infrastructure firms, rising to $13bn–$19bn under widespread adoption; roughly half of the $3bn–$5bn opportunity is projected to come from post‑trade services, data and technology.

Where other institutional flows are going

Investment in the sector is not limited to market-facing exchanges. Coinbase Ventures joined an $8.5m funding round for prediction-market infrastructure company River Markets in August 2026. Separately, Coinbase this week received Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval for Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization, completing a regulated stack that includes exchange, brokerage and clearing capabilities for derivatives.

Those moves signal institutional intent to own more of the full trading value chain, from order execution to clearing and post‑trade services. For liquidity providers such as Raven, deeper institutional participation can change liquidity dynamics and capital requirements.

What this means for operators, platforms and liquidity providers

Platforms need market makers capable of scaling across many markets and venues. That requirement lifts demand for firms with multi‑venue connectivity, robust risk controls and risk capital. For platform operators, outsourcing liquidity to specialist traders like Raven reduces the need to hold large capital buffers internally but increases dependence on external counterparties.

For market-making firms, the growth story has operational implications: more sophisticated execution technology, expanded margin and funding arrangements, and an emphasis on tight risk controls across centralised and decentralised ledgers.

"Raven sits in the infrastructure layer that keeps books tradable as new markets and volumes scale," a source close to the company told CNBC.

Market implications and next steps

The round underlines that capital is moving into the less visible parts of the prediction‑market ecosystem. As trading volumes rise and institutional players enter, the need for reliable market makers will grow. How that demand translates into pricing, spreads and liquidity across individual markets will depend on the size and behaviour of liquidity providers and on platform rules for market listings.

Operators, vendors and institutional investors will watch how Raven deploys the fresh capital and whether the firm expands further across venues or deepens its risk and execution capabilities.