It is not a native cryptocurrency fund, but it is becoming one of the most dazzling funds behind Polymarket's financing.
Written by: Maher, Foresight News
On September 1, The Wall Street Journal cited informed sources reporting that the Trump family's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., serving as a partner at 1789 Capital, plans to invest an additional approximately $300 million in the prediction market platform Polymarket, with the total scale of this financing round at around $1 billion.
The relationship between 1789 Capital and Polymarket did not just begin this week.
In August 2025, Polymarket announced a strategic investment from 1789 Capital while inviting Donald Trump Jr. to join the advisory board. On the same day, Reuters quoted informed sources stating that the investment amount was in the tens of millions of dollars.
From $100 million to $3.5 billion
The year 1789 in the name of 1789 Capital is the year the U.S. Bill of Rights was passed. Its fund is headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida, with a slogan of “providing capital for the next chapter of American exceptionalism.” It is not a native cryptocurrency fund, but it is becoming one of the most prominent political capital sources behind Polymarket's financing.
1789 Capital was established in October 2022, founded by investment bankers Omeed Malik, conservative publisher and investor Chris Buskirk, and Republican mega-donor Rebekah Mercer.
The idea for the fund came from a meeting of a donor network called Rockbridge, which Buskirk and current Vice President JD Vance were involved with. The early pitch materials outlined their strategy in three parts: replicating/paralleling the economy, de-globalization, and industries harmed by ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. They created an opposing label, EIG (Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Growth), with Malik stating: they do not invest in any companies with ESG or DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) elements.
The backgrounds of the three individuals determine the fund’s temperament, unlike traditional Silicon Valley institutions.
Omeed Malik
Malik was the head of global hedge fund consulting at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and after leaving in 2018, he had legal disputes with the bank that were settled for an eight-digit sum. In 2019, he founded the boutique investment bank Farvahar Partners. He had previously donated to Hillary but later turned to Trump, becoming a member at Mar-a-Lago. In 2025, he was also appointed to the board of Fannie Mae.
Chris Buskirk
Buskirk is also a founding partner and chief investment officer of the fund. According to the official website, he is the founder and head of the family investment firm Buskirk Capital; it was this company that facilitated the establishment of 1789 Capital.
On the left is Donald Trump’s eldest son Don Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. joined the fund as a partner less than a week after the November 2024 election. His relationship with Malik predates that: they met in the Hamptons in 2018 through Kimberly Guilfoyle, and by around 2020, they were already discussing investments together. The New York Times reported that the two moved their homes to Palm Beach due to dissatisfaction with regulations during the pandemic. The official website states that Donald Trump Jr.'s focus is on exploring new investment projects, fundraising, and strategy. His extensive connections in the business and investor circles provide considerable reach for 1789 Capital's global network.
What truly elevated 1789 Capital from a small fund to a market topic is its size. Public reports indicate that the trajectory of managed assets began with a goal of raising about $100 million, which by the end of 2023 was around the $100 million mark. When Trump was elected and Trump Jr. joined, it was about $150-200 million. In May 2026, the Financial Times quoted partner Paul Abrahimzadeh stating that over the past year, it had grown from $200 million to about $3.5 billion. Regarding performance, in July 2026, The New York Times cited informed sources saying that the main fund had a return of approximately 200% as of June 30.
Investing in late-stage growth stocks, defense and AI as foundational assets
1789 Capital is not a seed fund. According to PitchBook, the number of investments has reached over 40, with the portfolio expanding from five early-stage firms to about 40. Abrahimzadeh candidly stated in a public interview that the strategy is clear: buy industry leaders, ideally wait a year or two for an exit; occasionally do early-stage, with the main portfolio being growth stocks.
Four identifiable heavy investment directions can be confirmed.
One category is defense and re-industrialization: Anduril, Hadrian, Firehawk Aerospace, Axiom Space, and the rare earth magnet company Vulcan Elements. In July 2026, CNN reported that 1789 Capital had cumulatively invested in over 10 defense, aerospace, and foundational software companies.
Another category is the Musk ecosystem. A partner at the fund has publicly stated that SpaceX is one of the largest holdings in the portfolio; xAI, X, and Neuralink are also included in reported holdings.
A third category is AI computing power and models. Cerebras is a particularly clear investment: 1789 Capital entered when it was valued at about $8 billion and then increased its investment when the valuation was about $23 billion; the company went public on Nasdaq in May 2026, becoming one of the largest IPOs of the year. Additional investments include Groq, Reflection AI, PsiQuantum, Perplexity, Replit, and Skild AI. On the software side, Databricks, Ramp, Deel, and Plaid appeared—the logic behind this is "strengthened by AI, not replaced by it" for application layers.
The final category is their initial cultural business: the first investment in 2023 was Tucker Carlson's Last Country; the list also includes Juul and gun e-commerce GrabAGun. However, what really accelerated the fundraising speed were assets like SpaceX, Cerebras, and Anduril, along with the surname of the President’s eldest son.
From casinos to financial infrastructure
1789 Capital is betting on prediction markets, and Trump Jr. has previously discussed his reasons for entering.
At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he directly approached 26-year-old Polymarket founder Coplan, stating that Polymarket's odds were closer to what he heard from voters than the polls. Just two years earlier, Polymarket was fined $1.4 million by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and ordered to block U.S. users.
In August 2025, Trump Jr. described the platform in a press release as a tool to "bypass media narratives and expert opinions, allowing people to bet based on real judgments," emphasizing that "America needs to access this platform." For a fund that positions itself against ESG and "weaponized capital," the prediction market is framed as a matter of information rights, rather than gambling rights.
1789 Capital has invested in Tucker Carlson's Last Country, Musk's X, and then Polymarket, building a complete "decentralized information loop against the establishment": X provides the public opinion arena, Carlson delivers viewpoints, Polymarket offers real betting odds to crush traditional mainstream media polls.
When elite capital becomes deeply intertwined with prediction platforms, the platforms transform from decentralized oracles to targets of insider manipulation suspicions. Should there be a regime change in Washington or an escalation of bipartisan struggles, Polymarket will directly become the top target for Congressional antitrust and insider trading investigations.
Regardless, prediction markets are no longer just casinos within the cryptocurrency circle; the parent company of the NYSE and the fund where the President’s eldest son is located are working with real money to establish it as an alternative financial infrastructure in America.
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