Written by: Pirate Wires
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 FBI's investigation focuses on whether the Polymarket platform operated as an unlicensed commodity exchange.
However, after this incident, it seems to be more than just a matter of compliance; it even involves business competition. According to U.S. media outlet Pirate Wires, Kalshi funded KOLs to imply that its competitor Polymarket and its CEO Shayne Coplan were engaging in illegal activities. Here are the details.
According to insiders and received screenshots, on the morning of November 13 at 6 AM, after a raid on Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's SoHo residence, Polymarket's competitor 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 KOLs who posted negative content about Shayne and Polymarket discussed the fact that they had paid collaborations with Kalshi after the raid. One source stated that just days after the raid, a third party associated with Kalshi offered him $3,500 to write an 'attack article' about Polymarket.
In a chat screenshot (see below), a Kalshi employee asks former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, who has 2.2 million X followers, to post specific information about the raid.
Kalshi's growth team member Keaton Inglis asked Antonio Brown in a screenshot: 'Hey, Antonio Brown, are you going to comment on this with something like “this black guy seems guilty”?'. He seemed 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 CJ Pearson's tweet (archive link) and captioned it 'This black guy seems guilty...'
On the same day, a third-party company associated with Kalshi offered $3,500 to Gateway Pundit reporter Elijah Schaffer (who has 772,000 followers) to write a 'hot article' promoting the claims that Polymarket and Shayne were involved in criminal activities. Elijah Schaffer revealed to media outlet Pirate Wires over the phone that he rejected the offer.
Other screenshots show that in the days following the FBI raid on Shayne's apartment, several KOLs pushed anti-Polymarket rhetoric and discussed their paid collaborations with Kalshi.
One screenshot 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, this guy is being raided by the FBI for illegal betting schemes.' He was referring to Shayne. Since the election, Clown World has posted other Kalshi-related content multiple times (archive link).
Another screenshot shows Miami influencer Arynne Wexler, who has over 67,000 followers, discussing her 'trade' with Kalshi at the end of October. On November 14, Arynne Wexler posted a video about the raid (archive link), noting that trading on Polymarket is illegal in the United States, while 'Kalshi has the license to operate in the U.S.' and encouraged her followers to 'check the platforms you use to ensure they are legal in the U.S.' Like Clown World, Arynne Wexler also posted other Kalshi-related content before the election (archive link).
If this information is true, these allegations would reveal a brutal behind-the-scenes struggle between the two companies for dominance in the U.S. prediction market, with Kalshi paying large social media accounts to stir up a covert PR campaign in its name, without clearly disclosing the obvious conflict 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 reached with the CFTC in 2022, Polymarket was prohibited from accepting trades from U.S. users, as the company launched trading without 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 attempting to create accounts; it remains unclear whether the DOJ's investigation involves users bypassing the geo-block.
Kalshi launched its platform in 2021 after receiving approval from the CFTC (i.e., becoming a DCM in 2020) and offered a variety of non-political event contracts. In 2023, the CFTC rejected Kalshi's application to allow users to trade congressional control contracts. The company sued the agency over that decision, and in September 2024, a district court made a ruling in favor of Kalshi. Last October, a circuit court denied 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.