Polymarket pays US-based influencers to promote election betting

According to a report, Polymarket is paying US-based social media influencers to promote election betting on its website – even though federal regulators have banned Americans from betting on the platform.

According to Bloomberg News, Armand Saramout, senior director of growth at Polymarket, sent overtures to popular social media influencers in September to inform them of a sponsorship deal with the site.

Several influencers have posted Polymarket-sponsored content on their Instagram pages in recent weeks under the hashtags #PMPartner and #PolymarketPartner.

Eric Pan, an influencer who gives personal financial advice, also appears to have signed a contract with Polymarket based on his posts.

“We reached out to influencers on both sides of the aisle to promote our data and drive traffic and attention to polymarket.com, where 99% of visitors consume news and never transact,” said a Polymarket spokesperson told Bloomberg News.

However, the spokesperson denied that the company's intention was to drive trade from visitors to the site who are based in the United States.

Last month, Polymarket launched an investigation into the identities of mysterious bettors who bet $30 million on a victory for former President Donald Trump in Tuesday's election.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company brought in outside experts to analyze four bets placed on different accounts totaling $30 million.

A company spokesman told Bloomberg News that the accounts belonged to an individual. The investigation revealed that the individual was not attempting to manipulate the market.

As of midday Tuesday, Polymarket gave Trump a 60.1% chance of winning the election. His Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had a 39.9% chance of winning.

Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market platform that allows users to bet on the outcome of events in sports, entertainment or politics.

Users deposit a digital stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar through the site's network and trade shares that represent the probability of certain outcomes.

US regulators have sought to either restrict or shut down the website, which is based abroad, although users can still access Polymarket via virtual private networks (VPNs).

Polymarket users can also bet on the outcome of swing state races and which candidate will win the popular vote.

Unlike Polymarket, Kalshi, its Soho-based competitor, is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has designated the location for swaps, futures and options trading.