Polymarket CEO Claims He’s a Political Target After FBI Raids His Home, Takes His Phone

Yesterday the FBI raided the NYC location of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and seized his telephone and electronics. The raid took spot astir 6 a.m. and Coplan was location erstwhile the agents entered his apartment. Later successful the day, the Department of Justice announced it was investigating the prediction marketplace for allowing U.S. citizens to marque trades connected the platform, which is illegal.

On Polymarket, users tin stake connected events with binary outcomes. As radical spot bets connected something, the likelihood of the result shift. Polymarket gained attraction during the statesmanlike predetermination for predicting that Trump would win. Its CEO Shayne Coplan called the tract the aboriginal of news. In the end, Polymarket was close astir the predetermination if not astir being the future of news.

The U.S. has done a batch to normalize online gambling successful the past 10 years, but these kinds of predictive betting markets are inactive amerciable here. A U.S. national tin log connected to the tract and ticker the markets determination but they aren’t allowed to laic a bet. It got successful occupation implicit this earlier and settled a quality with the Commodity Future Trading Commission successful 2022. It paid a $1.4 cardinal fine.

Polymarket and Coplan said this has thing to bash with Americans utilizing the site. “This is evident governmental retribution by the outgoing medication against Polymarket for providing a marketplace that correctly called the 2024 statesmanlike election,” Polymarket told Axios aft the raid. “Polymarket is simply a afloat transparent prediction marketplace that helps mundane radical amended recognize the events that substance astir to them, including elections.”

Later that day, Coplan posted astir the occupation connected X and, erstwhile again, blamed Biden for being upset astir the predetermination results. “It’s discouraging that the existent medication would question a last-ditch effort to spell aft companies they deem to beryllium associated with governmental opponents. We are profoundly committed to being non-partisan, and contiguous is nary different, but the incumbents should bash immoderate self-reflecting and admit that taking a much pro-business, pro-startup attack whitethorn beryllium what would person changed their destiny this election,” Coplan said successful a station connected X.

The nationalist statements from Polymarket and its CEO bespeak their conception that the gambling website is much than that. Coplan sees it arsenic a vehicle for news, a mode to marque consciousness of a chaotic world.

Notably, the FBI has not raided the location of Tarek Mansour—the CEO of prediction marketplace Kalshi. Mansour lives successful Massachusetts and his tract besides predicted Trump’s victory. He besides made respective nationalist appearances during the past period of the predetermination talking astir Kalshi and prediction markets. His location remains unraided by the FBI.

“Polymarket has provided worth to 10’s of millions of radical this predetermination cycle, portion causing harm to nobody. We’re profoundly arrogant of that,” Coplan said connected X. “I’m besides arrogant to accidental that the aboriginal of America, and successful peculiar American entrepreneurship, has ne'er been brighter. In the look of adversity, we physique 🦅”

Elon Musk, a antheral who has bought his mode into government, replied to the station with “Indeed.”

Coplan sent a “🦅” back.