A $79 million betting dispute has erupted on crypto prediction platform Polymarket over whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's attire at a June 24 NATO meeting qualified as a formal suit. The market, which required visual evidence of Zelenskyy wearing a suit between May 2022 and June 30, 2025, initially settled on "yes" but faced two formal disputes after bettors disagreed on the classification of his dark jacket, collared shirt, and long pants.
Arguments centered on whether the outfit's matching fabric constituted a suit despite military-style elements and mismatched trainers. Polymarket Intel declared it a suit, while ChatGPT classified it as a military-style field jacket. Fashion commentator Derek Guy added ambiguity by stating it was "both a suit and not a suit"—echoing a May dispute where Polymarket ruled against a similar outfit despite Guy's technical definition.
The controversy highlights reliability concerns in Polymarket's UMA Protocol-based oracles, which settle outcomes via blockchain. A recent Truf.Network report warned such markets risk collapse when data is unverifiable or manipulable, citing a March incident involving $7 million in disputed Ukraine mineral deal bets.
Amid the turmoil, Polymarket nears unicorn status with a $200 million funding round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, valuing it at $1 billion. The platform—banned in the U.S. but partnered with Elon Musk's X for Grok AI integration—boasts 21,000 active markets and $700 million in trading volume.