Latest findings by The Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ) have revealed surprising particulars in regards to the promotional content material of the prediction platform, Polymarket. As reported, nearly all of the profitable bets that drove the platform’s viral progress had been staged on copycat variations of its web site.
In line with a report from WSJ, Polymarket paid college-age creators to stage as much as $1.9 million in pretend bets. The investigation group assembled by WSJ reviewed at the very least 1,105 movies posted by these creators and located none of them to be actual; they’d no blockchain hint and couldn’t be verified by any digital ledger.
Faux Bets, Faux Winnings
On the core of the Polymarket enterprise marketing campaign is the declare that each one trades are settled in USD Coin (USDC) on the Polygon blockchain. These trades are public and could be verified by anybody. Whereas the prediction platform has led its campaigns with this declare, the corporate’s promotional content material suggests in any other case.
Polymarket has been paying creators $2,000 to $3,000 a month to put up movies of bets seemingly positioned and received on its web site. Nonetheless, in actuality, these trades had been positioned on dummy websites like poiymarket.com, created to reflect the actual platform.
Out of greater than 1,000 betting movies from 10 creators promoted between December 2025 and mid-Could 2026, none had been actual. Whereas advertising and marketing corporations pushed the movies to get extra views, the creators had been instructed to chorus from disclosing that they obtained funds for the clips. As a part of the scheme, the creators typically altered headlines and used outdated footage to suggest they received the bets, even when the winnings had been pretend.
Polymarket Again within the U.S.
Curiously, the identical bets that received thousands and thousands within the promotional clips incurred losses for merchants in actuality. About 118 clips reviewed by WSJ confirmed creators celebrating roughly $900,000 in wins; nevertheless, in actuality, the identical bets would have incurred over $166,000 in losses.
Moreover, a creator claimed they received $100,000 after U.S. President Donald Trump stated the phrase “McDonald’s” in January. As found in the course of the investigation, Trump by no means stated the phrase publicly that month, and the clip used to justify the profitable was older. Sadly, at the very least 50 accounts that really positioned that guess on Polymarket all misplaced.
As considerations in regards to the promotional content material come up and investigations intensify, lots of these creators have eliminated the pretend bet-winning movies from their social media accounts. Moreover, Polymarket has taken down the dummy web site, poiymarket.com.
These accusations come as Polymarket re-enters america after securing a greenlight from regulators. The platform intends to audit its promotional content material following the revelations.
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