FBI raids Polymarket CEO’s apartment in possible ‘political payback:’ report

FBI agents raided the Manhattan apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Nov. 13, according to the New York Post.

US law enforcement officers demanded that Coplan hand over his phone and other electronic devices, The Post wrote in an exclusive, citing a source close to the matter.

The raid came a week after Polymarket accurately predicted Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential election with a probability of 58.6% for Trump compared to 41.4% for Harris.

Polymarket stands strong against this FBI raid…

“This is an obvious political retribution”

“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market”

Need Polymarket bet as soon as possible if they did something illegal.

road @aosipòvitx pic.twitter.com/DUXh0bsS00

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) November 14, 2024

Political remuneration

The source of the medium claims that it is a “political retribution” of the outgoing administration. It’s “great political theater at its worst,” they said, before adding:

“They could have asked their lawyer for any of those things. Instead, they staged a so-called raid so they could leak it to the media and use it for obvious political reasons.”

No motive was given for the raid on Coplan and no charges were filed. There was also speculation that the government is “probably picking up on the liberal media reports” accusing Polymarket of market manipulation and rigging the polls. Coplan posted to X that he had to get a new phone after the attack.

new phone, who does it?

— Shayne Coplan (@shayne_coplan) November 13, 2024

In a later post, he said: “It’s disheartening that the current administration is looking for a last-ditch effort to go after companies they see as associated with political opponents,” before adding:

“We are deeply committed to being nonpartisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should reflect on themselves and recognize that taking a more pro-business and pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fortunes this election.”

The FBI raid comes a week after Coplan said Polymarket planned to return to the United States. However, their position may be a little different now.

Run by regulators

Polymarket was the target of the Democrats’ war on crypto and had previously paid a $1.4 million fine to the CFTC in 2022 for failing to register. The betting platform also faces scrutiny from the French 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 allegation, saying it was fully transparent.

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