On June 5, a Politico investigation revealed that Matthew Modabber, the chief marketing officer of prediction market platform Polymarket, paid more than $2.5 million to over 800 individuals through his personal PayPal account between January 2025 and February 2026, all for promoting Polymarket content. The probe uncovered a direct link between these payments and a flood of undisclosed social media posts.
Of these recipients, Politico was able to verify the identities of about 24 influencers active on X. After receiving payments, they collectively posted over 490 Polymarket-related messages covering odds, market events, and platform data, yet none included any form of sponsorship disclosure.
Posts disguised as news
Every one of these posts lacked advertising labels. Many deliberately mimicked news formats—using headlines like “BREAKING” and “NEW”—to appear as objective reports. The creators spanned both conservative and progressive viewpoints, suggesting Polymarket’s push targeted a broad audience without ever flagging the paid nature of the content.
Polymarket: “routine business”
When approached by Politico, a Polymarket spokesperson characterized the influencer collaborations as standard marketing practice but refused to address the company’s disclosure policy for paid promotions, the absence of ad labels on the 490+ posts, or why the CMO routed the substantial transfers through a personal account rather than a corporate one.
FTC requirements and compliance questions
Under U.S. Federal Trade Commission rules, any “material connection” between a brand and a content creator must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the public, typically with tags such as #ad or #sponsored. The FTC has the authority to impose fines or initiate legal action for violations. The sheer scale of undisclosed posts tied to Polymarket raises significant compliance concerns, yet the company has not indicated whether it will adjust its influencer marketing strategies.