A Wall Street Journal investigation has found that Polymarket paid social media creators to promote fake bets and fabricated winnings through replica versions of its prediction market platform. The newspaper reviewed 1,105 videos posted by 10 creators between December 2025 and mid-May and found that roughly 70% featured wagers that were not real.
The videos displayed about $1.9 million in fake bets. Polymarket built imitation sites for the campaign, including one hosted at poiymarket.com, a domain designed to resemble the official website. Across 118 videos reviewed, creators celebrated nearly $900,000 in winnings that the Journal said did not exist. If those positions had been placed in live markets, they would have generated more than $166,000 in losses.
Fake Wagers and Clone Websites
One video posted in January by college student George Makihara showed what appeared to be a $100,000 profit from a wager that President Donald Trump would say “McDonald’s” during the month. The clip used footage of Trump speaking the word two months before the bet’s resolution period. More than 50 real Polymarket users placed the same wager in January and lost, according to the report.
Creator Payment Mechanics
Creators received about $2,000 to $3,000 per month and were instructed not to disclose the arrangement, the Journal reported. Some later added “@polymarket partner” to their bios after the newspaper contacted them. Polymarket worked with marketing contractor Virality, which managed a network of “clippers.” Virality reportedly paid participants only if at least 60% of their audience came from the U.S. Analytics firm Tubular estimated that the videos generated more than 140 million views across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
The campaign targeted American users despite restrictions that have prevented Polymarket from offering its primary platform to U.S. residents since a 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Americans can still access the platform via VPNs.
In a statement, Polymarket said it is “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets” and plans to conduct a comprehensive audit of its promotional content. The findings arrived weeks after Politico reported that Polymarket CMO Matthew Modabber used a personal PayPal account to compensate creators posting Polymarket-related content on X without labeling the posts as ads. Politico reported Modabber sent at least $350,000 to creators, while the account distributed over $2.5 million to more than 800 recipients.
The Journal also reported that streamer Adin Ross has a multimillion-dollar partnership with Polymarket, and the company paid creators to promote at least 19 videos discussing how traders could profit from inside information. Polymarket said its rules prohibit trading based on stolen or confidential information.
Regulatory Pressure Mounts
Polymarket also faces legal scrutiny. On June 18, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed lawsuits against Polymarket, Kalshi and related partners, alleging unlicensed sports betting products in the state. Polymarket argues its contracts fall under federal commodities regulation rather than state gambling laws. On-chain tracker Lookonchain reported on June 21 that three Polymarket wallets generated a combined $24.25 million from World Cup prediction markets and later transferred funds through the same Binance deposit address, suggesting possible insider trading, though unconfirmed by Polymarket and Binance.