According to Woofun AI, the prediction market sector has seen a major personnel shake-up, as Lisa Mantil has officially left Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) after nearly 27 years of service to join Polymarket.

This cross-industry move by a core executive signals that traditional Wall Street capital is beginning to deeply engage with decentralized prediction markets, attempting to seize a first-mover advantage in institutional business within a regulatory gray area.

Mantil gradually rose through the ranks at Goldman Sachs to become a partner, a highly prestigious title on Wall Street. On Tuesday, she announced her departure and her加入 at Polymarket, with her new responsibilities focused on leading top-tier institutional clients into the company's business.

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan revealed that the two were introduced through Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. Notably, this is only the second job of Mantil's career.

During her tenure at Goldman Sachs, she led the ETF accelerator program, helping clients launch stock-like exchange-traded funds. Now, she will leverage this experience to develop price prediction and risk hedging products for banks, fund managers, and corporations focused on elections, interest rates, and geopolitical events.

Coplan emphasized that Mantil's experience and connections in the institutional space are world-class, which will be a key variable in Polymarket's expansion into the B2B market. Currently, prediction markets are mainly driven by retail investors, mostly concentrated in sports betting, while large investors prefer private block trades to avoid price volatility.

Competitor Kalshi was the first to implement such trading in April, and a month later Polymarket's international platform also launched a similar feature. Recent reports indicate that Polymarket is exploring offering block trading services on its U.S. trading platform.

Data compiled by Woofun AI shows that as of mid-September, Kalshi held 83% of the market's weekly trading volume, putting Polymarket under immense pressure to catch up in scale. A broker told CNBC that Polymarket is close to being able to enable block trading on its U.S. platform, aiming to attract early institutional clients seeking large-scale trading channels.

Although Mantil views prediction markets as a rapidly growing emerging asset class, legal risks remain severe. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Polymarket US on September 24, accusing it of engaging in illegal gambling activities in New York State. CNBC noted that until state and federal regulators clarify jurisdiction over sports event contracts, some institutions are choosing to wait and see.

Faced with regulatory uncertainty, Coplan remains actively courting clients, inviting institutions interested in large block trades to reach out directly.