The feds showed up at the Manhattan apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan in a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday, seizing his phone and other electronic devices.
Coplan was reportedly not told the reason for the raid, but a “source close to the matter” told the New York Post it was likely political after the 26-year-old entrepreneur’s betting site predicted Donald Trump’s historic win.
It’s “grand political theater at its worst,” the source told The Post. “They could have asked his lawyer for any of these things. Instead, they staged a so-called raid so they can leak it to the media and use it for obvious political reasons.” [...]
The source also speculated that the government is likely piggybacking off liberal media reports that accuse Polymarket of market manipulation and rigging its polls in favor of Trump.
“This is obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” the source said. [...]
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Coplan posted on X after his run-in with the feds: “New phone, who dis?”
Polymarket does not allow trading in the US, though bettors can bypass the ban by accessing the site through VPN.
The FBI’s investigation comes a week after Coplan said Polymarket is planning to return to the US.
The platform – which showed Trump with a 58.6% chance of winning the morning before Election Day and Vice President Kamala Harris’ odds at 41.4% – has also been linked to Trump and his allies. […]
In 2022, the online gambling platform was forced to pause its trading in the US and pay a $1.4 million penalty to settle charges with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that it had failed to register with the agency.
Since then, the platform has only been available for bettors in other countries. After the election, a mystery French trader raked in a whopping $85 million in profits on Trump bets — more than $50 million more than previously reported, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
One week before the election, a Fortune report said analysts at two crypto research firms found widespread evidence of wash-trading on Polymarket – an illegal form of market manipulation in which a trader buys and sells the same entity to create a false impression of market activity.
“Polymarket’s Terms of Use expressly prohibit market manipulation,” a Polymarket spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. (New York Post)
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A spokesperson for Polymarket told the Post that Coplan was not arrested or charged.
“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections,” the rep told the Post. “We charge no fees, take no trading positions, and allow observers from around the world to analyze all market data as a public good.”
Coplan issued a statement on X Wednesday evening:
"It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents," he said. "We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting and recognize that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fate this election. Polymarket has provided value to 10's of millions of people this election cycle, while causing harm to nobody. We're deeply proud of that. I'm also proud to say that the future of America, and in particular American entrepreneurship, has never been brighter. In the face of adversity, we build."
It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents. We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting…
— Shayne Coplan 🦅 (@shayne_coplan) November 13, 2024
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