Polymarket Accused of Using Simulated Bets in Social Media Promotions

Polymarket reportedly paid content creators to produce social media videos implying they had earned significant profits using the company's platform when, in reality, the trades were simulated and the videos were sponsored by Polymarket, Andrew Nusca reported for Fortune Tech.

Polymarket is facing scrutiny following reports that social media creators were paid to promote simulated trades as real betting activity. (Photo: Polymarket X)

A new Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigation said the effort was part of a campaign by the New York-based prediction markets company to attract users to its offshore platform, which operates outside many US regulatory frameworks.

"In reality, Polymarket built near-perfect copies of its website, then instructed creators to make simulated trades on those dummy sites and hide that they were being paid by Polymarket," the report stated.

"To get the videos to go viral, Polymarket recruited a social media army to copy and repost creators' footage. Though the New York-based company has been banned from offering its primary crypto platform in the US since 2022, the social media creators were paid to specifically target US users, who can still access the site using a virtual private network."