Polymarket bets on U.S. marketing blitz to win back trust after 4-year ban: Report
The prediction market’s head of U.S. operations says the business is taking steps to legitimize itself after years of legal scrutiny.
- Polymarket is mounting a U.S. comeback campaign, including influencer-driven marketing and partnerships with major sports teams, Major League Baseball and news outlets like CNBC and CNN, AP reported.
- Polymarket began its U.S. rehabilitation in December with a CFTC‑supervised mobile app that lets users bet real money on sports events.
Polymarket, which began its return to the U.S. after a four-year ban with the acquisition of QCEX a year ago and the introduction of a mobile trading app in December, has started a campaign to persuade policymakers, regulators and potential users that it is trustworthy, Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
According to AP, Polymarket is working with social media influencers to produce viral marketing on TikTok and other platforms and has signed partnership agreements with major sports teams and Major League Baseball as well as news outlets including CNBC and CNN.
The steps Polymarket is taking in the U.S. will help legitimize it despite the issues it has faced in the past, Dan Lee, head of U.S. operations, said in an interview with AP on Wednesday.
“I think having the international business being the bulk of the volume, it often sort of masks the progress we are making here in the U.S. to broaden Polymarket’s acceptance,” Lee said.
The company’s X account now has 1.7 million followers and posts about current events several times a day. Rival platform Kalshi, which has been operating under the supervision of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) since 2020, has 431,400.
The push follows last month’s Wall Street Journal investigation alleging Polymarket used paid influencers to promote simulated trades and winnings on social media without adequate sponsorship disclosures. The company was “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets,” it told the WSJ at the time.
Four years ago, Polymarket agreed to stop serving U.S. customers as part of $1.4 million settlement with the CFTC, which alleged it had offered unregistered event-based derivatives.
In late 2024, federal law enforcement officials raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s home as part of an investigation into whether the platform continued serving U.S. users despite the agreement not to. CoinDesk confirmed at the time that U.S. residents were able to trade on the platform despite that agreement. Investigations by U.S. prosecutors and the CFTC were dropped seven months later without charges after a change in presidential administration.
Polymarket’s U.S. rehabilitation started in December, with a mobile app offering a new way to bet on sports events using real money under CFTC oversight.
Polymarket did not immediately respond to a CoinDesk request for comment.
