WSJ: Polymarket paid creators to fake wins

• The Wall Street Journal says none of the roughly $1.9 million in bets shown across 1,105 creator videos were real.
• Creators were reportedly paid $2,000 to $3,000 a month and told not to disclose the arrangement, with many videos filmed on near-identical lookalike websites.
• Polymarket has pledged a comprehensive audit of its promotional content and maintains it is committed to fair and transparent markets.

A Wall Street Journal investigation published on June 21 has found that Polymarket allegedly paid a network of mostly college-age social media creators to stage fake winning bets on lookalike versions of its website, in a campaign that generated over 140 million views targeting American audiences.

What the Journal found

The publication reviewed 1,105 videos from 10 creators posted between December 2025 and mid-May 2026. Around 70% appeared to show a bet being placed. The Journal said none of the wagers, worth roughly $1.9 million in total, were real.

Most just showed a bet being placed, but 118 of the reviewed videos showed creators apparently reacting to fabricated wins totaling nearly $900,000. The same bets, had they been placed on the real platform, would have lost more than $166,000, the Journal said.

The Journal reported that Polymarket built imitation sites for the campaign, including one hosted at a domain designed to resemble the company’s official website.

In one example highlighted by the report, a creator showed a $100,000 win on a bet that President Donald Trump would say “McDonald’s” in January. The Journal said Trump never said it that month, and real platform users who placed the same wager all lost.

Marketing firm Virality managed the network of content creators, known as “clippers,” paying them only when at least 60% of their audience was US-based, according to the Journal.

Analytics provider Tubular estimated the campaign generated more than 140 million views across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Creators received around $2,000 to $3,000 a month and were told not to disclose the arrangement. Some added “@polymarket partner” to their bios only after Journal reporters began asking questions.

Razeen Khan, a content creator who worked with Polymarket until March, compared the practice to fast food advertising and told the Journal:

“We’re depicting what actually happens.”

Regulatory context

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Polymarket $1.4 million in 2022 for operating an unregistered market and ordered the winding down of non-compliant trades. The company subsequently reincorporated in Panama.

It later secured a CFTC-regulated path back into the US via an amended order in 2025, enabling intermediated access through brokerages, and has since sought to expand that domestic footprint further.

The Journal said the alleged campaign specifically targeted American audiences. The publication also found that Polymarket paid creators to promote at least 19 videos discussing how to trade on inside information. Polymarket says it prohibits trading based on stolen or confidential data.

This is the second marketing disclosure issue to hit the platform this month. Politico reported on June 5 that Matthew Modabber, Polymarket’s chief marketing officer, used a personal PayPal account to pay creators who promoted the platform’s odds on X without labeling the posts as ads.

That account reportedly sent more than $2.5 million to over 800 people, including at least $350,000 to creators directly.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed lawsuits on June 18 against Polymarket and rival Kalshi, alleging both are operating unlicensed sportsbooks in violation of state law.

llinois recently enacted a prediction market tax, and Minnesota became the first US state to outlaw prediction markets after Governor Tim Walz signed legislation into law on May 18. The CFTC filed a suit the following day to block the ban, set to take effect on August 1.

Response and audit

Polymarket told the Journal it is “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets” and that it is “constantly evaluating ways to improve how we’re engaging and earning the trust of our audience.” The company said it plans a comprehensive audit of active promotional content.

Polymarket is trailing rival Kalshi in monthly trading volume, with its regulated onshore US exchange in a distant third. Kalshi has separately started requesting employer details from some traders to monitor for insider activity, contrasting with the Journal’s findings on inside-information promotion.

A separate Journal analysis found that most Polymarket users lose money on the platform, directly contradicting the easy-wins narrative the alleged campaign promoted.