Key facts
- Polymarket paid high-profile influencers hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote its prediction market.
- Influencers did not disclose that they were being paid by Polymarket.
- Polymarket CMO Matthew Modabber used a personal PayPal account for these payments.
- At least 20 identified content creators promoted Polymarket on social media after receiving money.
- These influencers posted about Polymarket at least 490 times on X without clear disclosure.
- Polymarket has faced regulatory scrutiny and was banned in the US for operating without a license.
Polymarket, a prediction market platform, has been engaging in a campaign to generate buzz by paying high-profile influencers hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote its services, according to a POLITICO investigation. These influencers, including Nick Shirley, Alex LoRusso, Brian Krassenstein, and Riley Gaines, allegedly failed to disclose their paid partnerships when posting about Polymarket on social media platforms like X. Polymarket CMO Matthew Modabber reportedly used a personal PayPal account to send at least $350,000 to influencers between January 2025 and February 2026, with total transactions exceeding $2.5 million to over 800 individuals during a 14-month period. At least 20 verified creators posted about Polymarket approximately 490 times without clear disclosures. The company, which was banned in the US in 2022 for operating without a license, has seen its trading volumes increase significantly since President Donald Trump's reelection in 2024. The Trump administration faces pressure regarding prediction markets due to insider trading concerns, though President Trump has adopted a lenient approach, with his son Donald Trump Jr. being an investor in Polymarket and an advisor to its competitor, Kalshi. Federal regulators, including the FTC, have guidelines requiring disclosure of material connections between influencers and endorsed products, but the application to prediction markets remains unclear, and none of the analyzed posts included explicit disclosures. Polymarket's spokesperson stated that these collaborations are standard business practices aimed at providing accurate market insights.