Original author: Pirate Wires
Original translation: Felix, PANews
On November 13, local time, the FBI raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's New York residence, seizing his phone and electronic devices. The focus of the FBI investigation was whether the Polymarket platform operated as an unlicensed commodity exchange.
However, following this incident, it seems to involve not just compliance issues but also business competition. According to U.S. media Pirate Wires, Kalshi funded KOLs to suggest that its competitor Polymarket and CEO Shayne Coplan were engaged in illegal activities. Here are the details.
According to insiders and received screenshots, on November 13 at 6 AM, after the raid on Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's SoHo residence, Kalshi paid KOLs on social media to spread news of the raid and promote claims that Shayne and Polymarket were engaged in illegal activities.
Other screenshots provided by sources seem to show that after the raid, KOLs posting negative content about Shayne and Polymarket discussed the fact that they were being compensated by Kalshi. One source indicated that just days after the raid, a third party related to Kalshi offered him $3,500 to write a 'hit piece' about Polymarket.
In a chat screenshot (see below), Kalshi's employees asked former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, who has 2.2 million followers, to post specific information about the raid.
Kalshi's growth team member Keaton Inglis asked Antonio Brown in the screenshot: 'Hey, Antonio Brown, are you going to comment on this with phrases like “this black guy seems guilty”?' He appeared to refer to a post by CJ Pearson that implied Shayne was corrupt (archive link). Keaton Inglis's colleague, Kalshi's chief of staff Brendan Beckhardt, added: 'Let's get to work.'
On November 15, Antonio Brown quoted a tweet from CJ Pearson (archive link), captioning it 'This black guy seems guilty...'
On the same day, a third-party company associated with Kalshi offered Gateway Pundit reporter Elijah Schaffer (with 772,000 followers) $3,500 to write a 'hit piece' promoting claims that Polymarket and Shayne were involved in criminal activities. Elijah Schaffer disclosed to media Pirate Wires over the phone that he declined the offer.
Other screenshots show that in the days following the FBI raid on Shayne's apartment, several KOLs promoted anti-Polymarket rhetoric and discussed their paid partnerships with Kalshi.
One of the screenshots shows a representative from Clown World (with 2.8 million followers) discussing a paid partnership with Kalshi. On the day after the raid, November 14, the account posted (archive link): 'Similar to SBF, Shayne was raided by the FBI for illegal betting schemes.' He was referring to Shayne. Since the election, Clown World has repeatedly posted other content related to Kalshi (archive link).
Another screenshot shows Miami influencer Arynne Wexler, who has over 67,000 followers, discussing her 'trading' with Kalshi at the end of October. On November 14, Arynne Wexler posted a video about the raid (archive link), indicating that trading on Polymarket is illegal in the U.S., while 'Kalshi has a license to operate in the U.S.,' and encouraged her followers to 'check the platforms they use to ensure they are legal in the U.S.' Like Clown World, Arynne Wexler had also posted other content related to Kalshi before the election (archive link).
If this information is true, these allegations would reveal a brutal behind-the-scenes battle between the two companies for dominance in the U.S. prediction market, with Kalshi paying large social media accounts to incite a covert PR campaign in their name without disclosing clear conflicts of interest.
According to Bloomberg, the raid on Shayne's apartment is related to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. In a settlement agreement reached with the CFTC in 2022, Polymarket was banned from accepting trades from U.S. users, as the company launched trading without obtaining prior approval from the agency to become a designated contract market (DCM), paying a fine of $1.4 million. Polymarket currently geo-blocks U.S. visitors trying to create accounts; it is unclear whether the DOJ's investigation involves users bypassing geo-blocks.
Kalshi launched its platform in 2021 after receiving CFTC approval (i.e., becoming a DCM in 2020) and offered various non-political event contracts. In 2023, the CFTC denied Kalshi's application to allow users to trade congressional control contracts. The company sued the agency over this decision, and in September 2024, a district court ruled in favor of Kalshi. Last October, a circuit court dismissed the CFTC's emergency stay of that ruling, effectively allowing Kalshi to offer event contracts related to congressional control and other political topics.
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan declined to comment on the matter. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Keaton Inglis, Antonio Brown, Arynne Wexler, and Clown World did not respond to requests for comment.