The FBI raided the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday morning and seized his electronics, a company spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
It’s not clear what the FBI was seeking. In particular, it’s unclear if Polymarket, Coplan, or both are the targets of an investigation.
Polymarket, one of the most active prediction betting markets, gained mainstream attention during the recent U.S. presidential election. Americans are prohibited by law from using the market, which recently raised over $80 million from investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
In a statement to Axios, the spokesperson called the move “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.” They added: “Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections.”
Prediction markets including Polymarket and its competitors, Kalshi and PredictIt, paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to election betters following Donald Trump’s victory.
