Key facts
- Polymarket paid social media influencers to create videos.
- The videos showed fake winning bets on Polymarket.
- The promotions aimed to attract users to the platform.
- Polymarket is an unregulated prediction market.
- The promotions used cloned websites.
- Undisclosed payments were made to creators.
Polymarket, an unregulated prediction market, has been accused of using deceptive promotional tactics to attract users. According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, the company paid social media influencers to produce videos that depicted them winning bets on the platform. These videos were designed to go viral and entice new users to join Polymarket. The promotions reportedly involved the use of cloned websites, which mimicked legitimate online platforms, to further mislead potential users. Additionally, the payments made to the content creators were not disclosed, obscuring the sponsored nature of the content. This strategy aimed to create a false impression of widespread success and profitability on Polymarket, thereby driving user acquisition and engagement on its unregulated platform.