Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, said that “American entrepreneurship” has never looked brighter after blaming an FBI raid of his home on the current administration.
According to Bloomberg, the US Justice Department has opened an investigation into crypto predictions-betting platform Polymarket for allegedly accepting trades from US-based users.
On Wednesday (13 November), the FBI raided Coplan’s residence, seizing his phone and other electronics. Reacting to the raid, the company’s CEO posted to X: “New phone who dis?”
In 2022, Polymarket reached an agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which prevented US-based users from trading on the platform. The company also paid a fine of $1.4m.
However, there was reportedly a surge of US traders making transactions ahead of the recent US Presidential election. Using methods such as virtual private networks (VPNs), people from the US were allegedly able to bypass any barriers, allowing them to participate.
Coplan has stressed that the platform has stringent measures in place to block US citizens and those based in the country, adding that the company had taken additional measures to verify and block users in recent weeks.
In addition to this accusation, the platform has faced further scrutiny for several reasons. Firstly, Polymarket offers traders the ability to wager an unlimited amount of money on who would win the election – other betting platforms limit wager amounts.
Additionally, political prediction markets are accused of influencing elections, which was the case for Polymarket. With the election nearing, massive wagers in favour of Trump were made.
Due to this opinion on prediction markets, Coplan believes that the raid was carried out by the current administration in retaliation for losing the election.
He posted to X: “It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents. We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting and recognise that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fate this election.”
“Polymarket has provided value to 10’s of millions of people this election cycle while causing harm to nobody. We’re deeply proud of that. I’m also proud to say that the future of America, and in particular American entrepreneurship, has never been brighter.
”In the face of adversity, we build”
Notably, Elon Musk, Owner of X and backer of Donald Trump, replied to Coplan’s post: “Indeed”.
Polymarket’s support of Trump may be unsurprising, given the former President’s standing on cryptocurrency. Many experts believe that the incoming Republican government can help foster blockchain and crypto innovation.
