- The Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have ended their investigations of online prediction betting site Polymarket without bringing any charges.
- The conclusion of the probes is the latest example of the Trump administration dropping actions initiated under the Biden administration against crypto companies or online betting markets.
- The Justice Department and CFTC had been investigating whether Polymarket was accepting bets from people in the United States
Two federal investigations of the online prediction betting site
Polymarket
have been closed with no charges filed against the cryptocurrency-based marketplace, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday.
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“Polymarket has received declination notices from the
U.S. Justice Department
and
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
related to investigations into the company,” said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss non-public actions.
The company declined to comment.
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Polymarket received the formal notices earlier this month, informing the company that the probes, one civil and one criminal, had been completed, and no further action would be taken.
Bloomberg News
first reported the notices.
The anticlimactic conclusion of the probes is the latest example of the Trump administration dropping actions initiated under the Biden administration against
crypto companies
or online betting markets.
In May, the CFTC
moved to drop its appeal
of a federal judge’s ruling that allowed the prediction market
KalshiEx
to accept bets on U.S. elections.
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The Justice Department and CFTC had been investigating whether Polymarket was accepting bets from people in the United States, despite promises made by the company in early 2022 not to do so.
The assurances were made after Polymarrket was fined $1.4 million by the CFTC, which concluded that the marketplace had failed to register as a facility for even-based binary options, Bloomberg reported.
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which conducted the criminal investigation of Polymarket, declined to comment on Tuesday. CNBC has requested comment from the CFTC.
The closure of the probes comes nearly nine months after FBI agents seized a cellphone and other electronic devices of Polymarket CEO
Shayne Coplan
during a raid of his apartment in New York City. Coplan was not criminally charged.
Polymarket last year handled more than $3.6 billion in bets placed on the outcome of the presidential election, an
NBC analysis
found.
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Coplan blamed the administration of then-President Joe Biden for the raid and investigation.
“It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents,” Coplan said in a post on the social media site X in November.
“Polymarket has provided value to 10’s of millions of people this election cycle, while causing harm to nobody.”
Coplan in March thanked President
Donald Trump
for inviting him to a crypto summit at the White House that month.
“This admin’s commitment to collaboration with American innovators is revitalizing the American dream,” Coplan wrote in a post X.
“The future is bright,” he added.
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