FBI Raids Polymarket CEO in Election Betting Probe

United States: Federal law enforcement agents entered the downtown New York residence of Polymarket’s CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday and seized his phone and electronics, according to the company.

Federal Agents Seize Polymarket CEO’s Devices

The raid of Coplan’s SoHo apartment at dawn came after last week’s presidential election, amidst which punters wagering on Polymarket, an offshore and crypto-based betting platform that surmised the presidential chances for weeks placed the odds of Donald Trump more prominently above Vice President Kamala Harris than approved polls suggested, as reported by Reuters.

Coplan, now the founder of Polymarket of 26 years, has been woken up by the FBI at 6 a.m. and forced to surrender his electronic devices.

They say Polymarket is violating the law as it continues to allow users based in the United States to engage in betting, which the DOJ is now probing, according to Bloomberg News Wednesday evening.

Company Calls Raid ‘Political Retribution’

Polymarket declined to comment on those allegations but a spokesperson said the FBI raid was “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.”

According to Reuters, Coplan had not been arrested or taken into custody, said the company.

Focus on Election Betting Platforms

The FBI declined to comment. The Department of Justice, along with the White House, has not given any comments on the raid.

During the presidential campaign, the site attracted significant attention for how close to the election it put Trump’s probabilities far above Harris, while opinion polls for months indicated a tie.

Under Investigation

Another platform that doesn’t allow trade in the U.S. also came under the scanner after a French trader known as the Polymarket whale placed massive bets on Trump to emerge the winner of the election.

These monstrous stakes went hand in hand with the increase in the probability of Trump’s victory in the exchanges, as reported by Reuters.

He was left earning more than $46 million in profits.

Last week, the French gambling authority claimed that it was studying whether Polymarket meets the French legislation.