FBI raids Polymarket CEO's home, seizing phone, electronics

14/11/2024 12:05

        Federal law enforcement agents raided the downtown New York home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday, seizing his phone and electronics, the company confirmed.
        
        The early-morning raid of Coplan's SoHo apartment followed last week's presidential election, in which bettors on Polymarket, an offshore, crypto-fueled election gambling website, had for weeks put Donald Trump's odds drastically higher than those of Vice President Kamala Harris, in sharp divergence from opinion polls.
        
        Coplan, Polymarket's 26-year-old founder, was roused from his bed at 6 a.m. by FBI agents demanding he give them his electronic devices.
        
        Bloomberg News reported Wednesday evening, the DOJ is investigating Polymarket for allegedly allowing U.S.-based users to bet on the site.
        
        Polymarket declined to comment on those allegations but a spokesperson said the FBI raid was "obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election."
        
        The company told Reuters Coplan had not been arrested or taken into custody.