Just a week after Polymarket, a betting platform accurately predicted Donald Trump’s stunning victory in November 5th's US presidential elections, FBI agents raided the Manhattan apartment of CEO Shayne Coplan early Wednesday. The 26-year-old entrepreneur was reportedly roused from bed in his Soho pad at 6 a.m. by federal law enforcement agents who confiscated his phone and other electronic devices.
Coplan was reportedly not arrested and has not been charged. He was not provided with a reason for the raid; leading many political observers to suspect it was political retribution by the Joe Biden admininstration, since Polymarket, unlike traditional polls, predicted an easy Trump victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
The betting platform which billionaire Trump supporter Peter Thiel reportedly raised about $70 million in funding for, showed the former president with a 58.6% chance of winning the morning before election day and Harris’ odds at 41.4%.
“New phone, who dis?” Coplan posted on X following the run-in with federal authorities.
The FBI’s investigation comes a week after Coplan said Polymarket is planning to return to the US. The betting platform does not allow trading in the country, though bettors can access the website using a VPN.
After Tuesday's elections in the U.S, a French trader raked in a whopping $85 million in profits on Trump bets.
In 2022, Polymarket was forced to pause its trading in the US and pay a $1.4 million penalty to settle charges with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that it had failed to register with the agency.