Federal agents raided the Soho apartment of Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan, 26, early Wednesday morning, seizing electronic devices, according to reports from Axios and the New York Post. The raid comes just days after Coplan’s prediction platform forecasted Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election ahead of national polls.
A source cited by the New York Post claims FBI agents arrived at Coplan’s residence at 6:00 a.m., demanding access to his phone and other electronic devices. It remains unclear whether Coplan or Polymarket is the target of an ongoing investigation.
Coplan founded Polymarket in 2020 in New York after studying computer science at NYU, but dropping out after completing just one semester. The blockchain-based prediction marketplace lets users bet on things like political elections, economic indicators and popular awards by buying and selling shares tied to specific outcomes. Polymarket has surpassed $3 billion in trading volume so far this year. While blockchain technology isn’t necessary to create such a betting market, Polymarket uses a network called Polygon, which operates 24/7 and sits atop Ethereum, where transactions cost fractions of the chain’s normal fees. Polymarket accepts U.S. dollar-based wagers in the form of stablecoin USDC, but since July, customers have been able to use debit and credit cards.
“Polymarket effectively takes what otherwise would be an Internet yelling match and turns that into a market where the person who’s right wins,” Coplan said in an interview to Forbes in August.
The company has raised $74 million from investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin and has former CFTC chairman Chris Giancarlo and forecasting expert Nate Silver on its advisory board.
A Polymarket spokesperson suggested the raid was politically motivated. “This is obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” he reportedly told Axios. “Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections.”
Polymarket and the FBI have not responded to Forbes’ requests for comment.
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