‘We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different,’ Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan said.
Federal law enforcement agents raided the downtown New York home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Nov. 13, seizing his phone and electronics, the company said.
The early-morning raid followed last week’s presidential election, in which bettors on Polymarket, an offshore, crypto-fueled election gambling website, had for weeks put President-elect Donald Trump’s odds higher than those of Vice President Kamala Harris, in a divergence from some opinion polls.
Coplan, Polymarket’s 26-year-old founder, was roused from his bed in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood at 6 a.m. by FBI agents demanding he give them his electronic devices, according to the company.
Polymarket declined to comment on reports that federal prosecutors are investigating it for allegedly allowing U.S.-based users to bet on the site. A spokesperson said the FBI raid was “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.”
The company said that Coplan had not been arrested or taken into custody.
The FBI declined to comment. The Department of Justice and the White House did not respond to requests for comment on the raid.
Coplan wrote on the social media platform X that he was using a new phone.
“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. We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting and recognize that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fate this election,” he said in another post.
“Polymarket has provided value to 10’s of millions of people this election cycle, while causing harm to nobody. We’re deeply proud of that. I’m also proud to say that the future of America, and in particular American entrepreneurship, has never been brighter. In the face of adversity, we build.”
In the run-up to the presidential election, Polymarket placed Trump’s odds of winning high above those of Harris, when some opinion polls had shown the race in a dead heat.
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