WSJ Investigates: $1.9M in Fake Bets on Polymarket 🕵️♂️
A bombshell Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Polymarket paid dozens of college-age creators to film fake bets on near-identical copies of its own website. None of the $1.9M shown across 1,105 videos was real.
Here is what happened:
- Creators were paid $2,000-$3,000/month and told NOT to disclose the arrangement
- Videos showed them placing trades on dummy sites including one at the misspelled poiymarket.com
- 118 videos touted nearly $900K in fabricated winnings on bets that would have actually LOST $166K
- One creator staged a $100K win that was filmed months before the bet even started
- Trump never actually said the word he was betting on that month and every real bettor lost
Polymarket says they are committed to maintaining accurate fair and transparent markets and plan to audit their promotional content. The marketing firm Virality managed the creator network only paying creators whose audience was 60%+ US-based despite US users being blocked from the main platform.
This comes as prediction markets face growing regulatory pressure. Kentucky just sued Polymarket and Kalshi over unlicensed sports wagering while the Trump administration filed lawsuits backing prediction markets against state regulators.
The prediction market space is booming but trust is everything. When platforms fabricate engagement it undermines the entire sector.
What do you think should prediction market platforms face stricter advertising standards?