The FBI conducted a search of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s New York City apartment, seizing his cellphone and other electronic devices. The 26-year-old Coplan, who was home at the time, handed over his devices to authorities, though he has not been arrested or charged.
The search follows a controversial election cycle during which Polymarket’s betting markets correctly projected Donald Trump as the election winner. Polymarket reportedly handled more than $3.6 billion in bets on the presidential race, with $1.5 billion wagered on Trump and $1 billion on Kamala Harris. There has been growing speculation around the platform’s high-value bettors and whether betting markets could have influenced voter sentiment.
The FBI raid took place early on Wednesday, shortly after Polymarket’s accurate election predictions. Coplan posted “New phone, who dis?” on X following the raid, hinting at the seizure of his devices. The search comes amid increased scrutiny of Polymarket’s operations and the legality of its election-related betting.
The search occurred at Coplan’s apartment in New York City. Polymarket, founded in 2020, operates as an online betting platform that draws a global user base largely through cryptocurrency, providing user anonymity and making regulatory oversight challenging.
It is still uncertain if Coplan or Polymarket is an official target of a federal investigation. While U.S. election betting has recently been legalized under specific conditions, Polymarket was ordered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2022 to stop accepting U.S. users. However, due to its reliance on crypto transactions, U.S. users have continued to access the platform, raising regulatory questions.
Coplan has pushed back against the scrutiny, describing Polymarket as “nonpartisan” and suggesting that the raid was politically motivated. He attributed the raid to the Biden administration’s alleged targeting of politically affiliated companies following the recent election. A Polymarket spokesperson called the raid “political retribution,” defending the platform as a transparent prediction market that provides public insights into significant events.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment, leaving the scope and direction of the investigation unclear as attention on Polymarket and election betting laws continues to grow.
