Polymarket’s viral videos showed people winning big, but the bets were fake
Polymarket faces a lawsuit and regulatory scrutiny following reports of staged bets in social media videos. Bipartisan senators are demanding a federal probe into the company's marketing practices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is being urged to investigate the platform.
What changed
New reports indicate that regulators are already investigating and the company now faces a lawsuit.
Live updates
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Lawmakers and Regulators Target Polymarket Over Deceptive Ads
confidence 90%Polymarket faces a lawsuit and regulatory scrutiny following reports of staged bets in social media videos. Bipartisan senators are demanding a federal probe into the company's marketing practices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is being urged to investigate the platform.
What's confirmed:
- Bipartisan senators have called for a federal probe into Polymarket's deceptive marketing.
- Regulators are currently investigating the prediction market.
- Polymarket is facing a lawsuit regarding its social media advertisements.
Still unconfirmed:
- The company used 1,100 or more videos to promote $1.9M in fake influencer bets.
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Polymarket Probe Follows Reports of Staged Winning Bets
confidence 90%Polymarket has launched an internal probe after a Wall Street Journal investigation alleged the company paid creators to post deceptive videos. These videos featured fake trades on cloned websites to lure U.S. users with simulated big wins. Some content showed winnings of up to $100,000 on bets that would have actually lost money.
What's confirmed:
- Polymarket paid content creators to produce videos of fake trades showing large financial gains.
- The deceptive videos were filmed on clone websites that were near-perfect copies of Polymarket.
- Polymarket launched a probe after the Wall Street Journal reported the deceptive marketing.
- The company paid creators to stage these fake bets to attract users in the U.S.
Still unconfirmed:
- One faked video showed a creator winning $100,000 on a bet regarding President Trump saying the word McDonald's in public.
- Approximately 70% of 1,105 reviewed videos showed bets that never occurred.
- Polymarket paid at least 10 influencers over several months to pretend they won hundreds of dollars.
- A sports-betting attorney suggests it is unlikely the Trump administration will investigate the faked trades.