News
Deceptive Marketing · Polymarket · Prediction Markets · Regulatory Risk
Polymarket, banned from U.S. trading since 2022, is running a secret social media campaign, paying creators to film fake trades on dummy websites and hiring overseas workers to make videos go viral in the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
This campaign bolsters the perception that Polymarket offers fast and easy money, as the company attempts to bring its offshore website back to the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reviewed over 1,100 videos from 10 creators, finding 70% used dummy sites for fake trades, and 10% depicted creators winning nearly $900,000, when they would have actually lost over $166,000. Polymarket also used thousands of low-wage social media users, often teens in Asia, to repost videos from sockpuppet accounts, a strategy called "clipping," to create fake interest.
Despite CEO Shayne Coplan's claims of cracking down on insider trading, Polymarket paid creators to promote videos of celebrities, like Adin Ross, discussing using inside information on the platform. U.S. advertising and commodities laws bar deceptive practices, and a Commodity Futures Trading Commission spokeswoman stated prediction markets should be onshore for better policing.
Polymarket stated it would audit promotional content.