- The Washington Times - Thursday, November 14, 2024

The FBI raided the home of Shayne Coplan, CEO of the prediction betting platform Polymarket, on Wednesday. Agents seized his phone and other personal electronics.

The website became a hot item ahead of the presidential election, with bettors putting money on Donald Trump, who won. 

It is not legal, however, for Americans to trade on the platform, which uses a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. In 2022, Polymarket reached an agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to prevent Americans from making transactions and paid a $1.4 million enforcement penalty.

An unnamed source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Polymarket is being investigated by the Justice Department for allegedly letting Americans use the platform anyway.

Polymarket declined to address those allegations but told Reuters that the raid on Mr. Coplan’s residence was “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.”

Mr. Coplan has taken a similar line on X. After posting “new phone, who dis?” on Wednesday, he said the next day that “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 nonpartisan.”

One Polymarket user, known as “Trump whale,” got particular attention for his winning bets. The Frenchman and former U.S. resident who worked for several banks identified himself as Theo and told The Wall Street Journal he made $85 million betting on Mr. Trump’s victory on several Polymarket accounts.

To fuel his winning bets, Theo commissioned his own surveys. Instead of asking voters their direct preference and possibly running into the “shy Trump voter” effect, Theo had a pollster ask respondents whom they thought their neighbors were voting for.

“Public opinion would have been better prepared if the latest polls had measured that neighbor effect,” Theo told the Journal.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.

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