The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the New York City home of Shayne Coplan, CEO of the decentralized betting platform Polymarket, early on the morning of Nov. 13. According to sources, law enforcement officials arrived at 6:00 am Eastern Time, waking Coplan to demand his phone and other electronic devices. No arrests were made during the raid.
A spokesperson for Polymarket confirmed the incident, describing it as “political retribution” allegedly linked to the platform’s accurate predictions in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Polymarket is known for offering decentralized prediction markets that allow users to analyze and bet on global events. “We charge no fees, take no trading positions, and provide market data as a public good,” the spokesperson stated. “We are ready to defend our community and continue helping people make sense of important world events.”
Sources close to Coplan called the raid “grand political theater,” suggesting that authorities could have simply requested the information through legal channels rather than staging a high-profile raid. Critics speculated that the government might be building a case against Polymarket for market manipulation, potentially alleging that the platform skewed its prediction markets in favor of Donald Trump.
The raid follows a contentious election season where Republican Donald Trump secured a landslide victory. Polymarket reportedly processed $3.7 billion in bets on its 2024 U.S. Presidential Election Winner market, drawing criticism for its influence on public opinion. While U.S. residents are technically prohibited from betting on Polymarket, reports suggest that some circumvent the restriction using virtual private networks (VPNs). The platform has also been scrutinizing whether significant bets came from overseas accounts.
Polymarket’s regulatory history includes a $1.4 million settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in January 2022 for offering event-based binary options without proper registration.
The FBI has yet to comment publicly on the case.
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