FBI agents raided the Manhattan apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Nov. 13, according to the New York Post.
US law enforcement agents demanded Coplan turn over his phone and other electronic devices, The Post wrote in an exclusive citing a source close to the matter.
The raid happened one week after Polymarket accurately predicted Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential election with odds of 58.6% for Trump vs 41.4% for Harris.
Polymarket coming out strong against this FBI raid…
“This is obvious political retribution”
“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market”
Need Polymarket bet asap on whether they did anything illegal.
via @aosipovich pic.twitter.com/DUXh0bsS00
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) November 14, 2024
Political Retribution
The outlet’s source claims this is “political retribution” from the outgoing administration. It is “grand political theater at its worst,” they said before adding:
“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.”
No reason for the raid was given to Coplan, and no charges were filed. There was also speculation that the government is “likely piggybacking off liberal media reports” that accused Polymarket of market manipulation and rigging its polls. Coplan posted on X that he had to get a new phone following the raid.
new phone, who dis?
— Shayne Coplan (@shayne_coplan) November 13, 2024
In a later post, he said, “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,” before adding:
“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.”
The FBI raid comes a week after Coplan said Polymarket was planning to return to the US. However, his stance may be a little different now.
Targeted by Regulators
Polymarket was targeted in the Democrat’s war on crypto and had previously paid a $1.4 million fine to the CFTC in 2022 for registration failure. The betting platform is also facing scrutiny from France’s gambling regulator over compliance issues.
In late October, Fortune reported that analysts at two crypto research firms had found evidence of “rampant wash trading” on the betting platform. Polymarket denied the accusation, stating that it was fully transparent.
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