Back to Markets
Stocks● Neutral
Polymarket Paid Creators for Fake Wins, WSJ Probe Finds
Polymarket paid creators for bets they did not win, a WSJ investigation found. The platform ended the practice but faces regulatory scrutiny over its prediction markets.
Continue with
Polymarket paid some of its top content creators for bets they did not actually win, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation published Tuesday.
The prediction-market platform gave cash payments to roughly a dozen creators who posted about their winning wagers on social media, the WSJ reported, citing internal company records and people familiar with the matter. In several cases, the creators had not placed the bets they promoted.
The payments ranged from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, the report said. Polymarket did not disclose the payments as sponsored content, the WSJ found.
Polymarket said in a statement that it had ended the practice and that the payments were part of a marketing program that did not violate any laws. The company said it had not intentionally misled users.
The WSJ investigation focused on Polymarket's "creator program," which paid influencers to post about their betting activity on the platform. Some creators fabricated their results, the report said, posting screenshots of winning bets they had not placed.
Polymarket's terms of service prohibit users from posting false or misleading content. The company said it had terminated relationships with creators who violated the policy.