Federal agents from the FBI seized mobile devices owned by Polymarket Shayne Coplan after users on his Polygon-based correctly predicted Donald Trump’s victory.
The New York Post reported that Federal Bureau of Investigation officers impounded Coplan’s devices during a 6 AM search at his Soho property on Nov. 13. A source with intimate knowledge of the matter reportedly said Polymarket’s CEO was woken by FBI agents but not given reasons for the probe.
Coplan has not made a public statement regarding the incident and has remained relatively inactive on X since his victory lap following the election results.
What the unnamed source described as “grand political theater at its worst” came a week after Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential electoral polls. Polymarket users traded over $3 billion on who would win. Odds on the platform suggested Trump would emerge on top weeks before the election, raising eyebrows in the U.S.
The FBI’s bust could be an inquiry into Polymarket’s operations, the source told the NYP. If true, executives at companies like Kalshi and Robinhood may be next on the Fed’s list. Kalshi launched its event contract for the presidential race after beating the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in court. Robinhood followed later with its own event market.
Presidential betting contracts were all the rage during this year’s election cycle. Data from these venues were constantly compared against national polls. They sometimes received backlash for supposed wash trading and were accused of being influenced by either party.
Skepticism came to a head when a New York Times article said Polymarket’s contracts were manipulated by a large pro-Trump user. The whale, revealed to be a French national, clarified that his big bets were based on voting patterns and encouraged by skewed national polling data.
Theo4 bagged $79 million across four accounts as Polymarket users accurately predicted a Trump victory. Coplan’s company rose even higher in the mainstream spotlight as a venue for accurate user-driven outcomes for real-world events.
The prominence brought a new wave of scrutiny of Polymarket. As crypto.news reported, the French government threatened to ban Coplan’s site and block users from betting on the French elections.
