Polymarket Reportedly Paid US Content Creators for Election Content Ahead of Trump v. Harris Showdown

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As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen eye for market trends and regulatory nuances, I find the recent actions of Polymarket intriguing, yet somewhat troubling. While I appreciate the innovative spirit behind prediction markets, I am concerned about their apparent disregard for U.S. regulations, as evidenced by their dealings with social media influencers and their efforts to verify whales’ locations.

It’s been said that Polymarket, a well-known prediction market, is allegedly compensating American-based social media influencers for disseminating content related to elections prior to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.

Based on Bloomberg’s report, Armand Saramout, Polymarket’s senior director of Growth, recently struck a partnership with popular US influencers. Over the past few weeks, these social media figures have been posting content endorsed by Polymarket under hashtags such as “#PMPartner” and “#PolymarketPartner.

It’s worth noting that U.S.-based traders are prohibited from trading on predictions market platforms due to regulatory constraints set by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The regulator penalized Polymarket for providing unauthorized services, and as a consequence, the platform chose to halt its operations within the United States.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Polymarket was recently carrying out investigations to ascertain if large investors (whales) registered on their platform were residing outside of the U.S., during the period when several individuals were wagering on Donald Trump, a Republican candidate, to emerge victorious in the elections.

It’s been reported that a significant player in the crypto world, referred to as “zxgngl,” has taken out approximately $2.36 million in USDC stablecoin from Binance, which appears to be an attempt to increase their investment on Polymarket regarding the possibility of former U.S. President Donald Trump winning the upcoming elections.

Based on data from the analysis service Lookonchain, it appears that a large investor, often referred to as a “whale,” has moved approximately 14.2 million US Dollar Coin (USDC) out of the top cryptocurrency exchange platform since October 11. A significant portion of these funds seem to have been directed towards investments related to the so-called “Trump bet.

Currently, data from Polymarket indicates that zxgngl has invested a total of $13.28 million on Donald Trump winning the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. At present, they hold 22.91 million shares in this market, which have resulted in an unrealized loss of approximately $855,000.

Over a period, a significant investor in cryptocurrencies, often referred to as a ‘crypto-whale’, has consistently increased their holdings. This whale now controls the largest stake, approximately 21.18 million shares, in the market betting on Trump’s victory in the presidential race. They recently outpaced another prominent crypto-investor, Fredi9999, who previously held this position.

As an analyst, I’ve uncovered that the corporation behind the prediction market I’m analyzing, Blackratize, is alleged to have invested approximately $270,000 on targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram within the United States. The content of these ads encouraged viewers to disregard polls and instead rely on the markets for their trust.

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2024-11-05 17:57