In a stunning development that absolutely no one saw coming, prediction market Polymarket has raised $300 million from 1789 Capital, an investment fund with Donald Trump Jr. as a partner. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reports this is part of a funding round totaling around $1 billion. Because why not? It's not like there's any conflict of interest here.

1789 Capital previously invested $200 million in the site, and has also funded other "controversial" tech projects, including the Enhanced Games - you know, the so-called "steroid Olympics" founded by tech veterans. Because who needs clean sports when you have money to burn?

TechCrunch has reached out to Polymarket for comment, but we're not holding our breath. They're probably too busy counting their money.

Prediction markets are under increased regulatory scrutiny, with at least 20 states engaged in litigation against prediction sites over sports wagers. The federal government, however, has frequently sought to defend the prediction industry from state regulation. The Trump administration has argued that the sole regulator should be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not state governments. The CFTC has sued at least nine states over their attempts to regulate the industry.

In a twist that would make a soap opera writer blush, a coalition of 44 state attorneys general recently signed a letter arguing that the CFTC does not have the authority to regulate sports-related wagers on prediction sites. So it's states vs. feds, with the prediction sites caught in the middle, laughing all the way to the bank.

The New York Times reports that Donald Trump Jr. recently appeared at an event involving conservative state attorneys general, where he described the prediction industry as already having "robust oversight" and characterized prediction sites as a tool "overseen by federal officials, not state attorneys general." Because who better to judge oversight than someone with a direct financial stake in the game?