Bipartisan senators ask regulators to probe Polymarket over fake bets promotion
A Republican senator and a Democratic senator asked regulators to investigate Polymarket's promotion of fake bets, following Wall Street Journal reporting on the platform's deceptive advertising. The bipartisan request comes after Polymarket paid creators to stage $1.9 million in fabricated trades on dummy sites as part of a secret influencer campaign targeting U.S. users. The lawmakers' call adds to mounting pressure on the CFTC-regulated exchange, which is already defending its marketing practices on multiple fronts including state-level gambling challenges. A separate congressional request from earlier the same day also pressed the CFTC to investigate Polymarket after the fake bets report.
Bipartisan senators formally petitioned regulators to investigate Polymarket's promotional tactics, escalating the fake-bets issue from press scrutiny to potential congressional oversight.
A formal CFTC investigation could trigger enforcement action or new compliance requirements for Polymarket, testing whether its CFTC-regulated status protects it from regulatory blowback over marketing practices.