A Wall Street Journal investigation published on June 21, 2026, alleges that crypto-based prediction market platform Polymarket paid dozens of online creators to stage fake bets and winnings on near-identical copies of its website. The review examined over 1,100 videos, finding that roughly $1.9 million in displayed wagers were completely fabricated, drawing more than 140 million views.
Creators, mostly college-age, were reportedly paid $2,000 to $3,000 per month and instructed not to disclose their financial relationship with Polymarket. Some added “@polymarket partner” to their bios only after WSJ reporters began inquiries. The campaign was managed by marketing firm Virality, which paid creators only when at least 60% of their audience was based in the U.S., despite Polymarket’s main platform remaining geoblocked for U.S. users.
In one flagged video, a creator is shown celebrating a fake $100,000 win on a bet about President Trump mentioning “McDonald’s,” filmed months earlier; in reality, the bet would have lost. Other videos were recorded on dummy sites, including one at the misspelled domain “poiymarket.com,” which a source said was built by Polymarket for its engineers’ test environments.
Polymarket responded with a statement that it is “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets” and plans a comprehensive audit of its promotional content. The platform, which gained prominence during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, is seeking to re‑enter the U.S. market under a CFTC‑licensed exchange, while facing state-level lawsuits over unlicensed sports wagering. The findings add to ongoing scrutiny of prediction market marketing practices and may complicate Polymarket’s efforts to build mainstream credibility.
