Bombshell WSJ Report Uncovers Deceptive Polymarket Campaign

Prediction market operators have gained a reputation for being brash, but Polymarket’s latest scandal could hit the industry hard.

The Wall Street Journal released a bombshell report involving Polymarket’s advertising campaign this week. It alleges that the operator paid social media influencers to place fake wagers (or “contracts”) using a dummy version of Polymarket’s prediction platforms. Each would be set to pay out as a win, which the influencers would post on social media as if they were legitimate wins.

Reporters from the WSJ reviewed around 1,100 winning transactions promoted by influencers. They went through each to verify which “contracts” were won and found 118 that weren’t. The phony wins claimed to pay out almost $900,000, but the actual results would have led to over $150,000 in losses.

According to the report, the campaign they audited involved 1,000+ TikTok videos from ten different creators. The WSJ believes the goal was to help gain market share in the US as Polymarket continues to lag behind rival Kalshi. 

Polymarket has not confirmed it was aware of the campaign, and has announced an internal investigation to verify the reporting. 

Bad News for the CFTC

Over the last few months, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has fought hard to sway the public to trust the prediction industry. Chairman Michael Selig has gone in front of cameras to promote the industry’s integrity and has recently proposed a new set of regulations to ensure that.

The WSJ now threatens to blow up all the regulators’ hard work. The allegations support the arguments of industry opponents, who portray it as dishonest. Given the public’s growing concern over problem gambling and deceptive advertising from sportsbooks, many will demand that action be taken against Polymarket.

This is a big issue for the CFTC, made even worse by Polymarket’s past. The operator was previously fined by the CFTC for its prediction platform, resulting in a ban from the US in 2022. That ban was dropped when the regulator dropped its investigation in 2024, paving the way for its return to the market.