Betting site pushes election campaigns with US influencers, ignoring federal ban

Polymarket, a decentralized betting platform, recently formed a selection of US-based social media influencers to promote the platform’s election betting services, even though federal regulators have banned US residents from betting on the site.

Bloomberg News reported that the platform’s senior director of growth, Armand Saramout, extended invitations to influencers seeking sponsorships in September.

Recent posts on Instagram from several influencers reveal content sponsored by Polymarket, tagged with hashtags such as #PMPartner and #PolymarketPartner. Influencers such as Eric Pan, known for offering personal financial advice, have also reportedly entered into sponsorship deals with the site.

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Polymarket defended saying ‘99% of visitors consume news and never make a trade’

A Polymarket spokesperson told Bloomberg News: “We’ve reached out to influencers on both sides of the aisle to promote our data and drive traffic and eyeballs to polymarket.com, where 99% of visitors consume news and never make a trade.” However, the spokesperson denied any intention to increase trading activity among US-based users through these sponsorships.

Just last month, Polymarket launched an investigation into several large bets totaling $30 million that were placed on former President Donald Trump winning the 2024 election. These bets were placed in four separate accounts that the company later confirmed belonged to a single person . After bringing in outside experts to investigate the bets, Polymarket stated that they found no evidence of attempts to manipulate the market.

At midday on Election Day, Polymarket data indicated Trump had a 60.1% chance of winning, while his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had a 39.9% chance of victory.

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The platform allows betting on various outcomes – sports, entertainment and political events – using a digital dollar linked to a stablecoin. They then buy and sell stocks that reflect the probability of certain events, for example the results of the swing states or what the polls predict about who will win the popular vote.

Despite US regulators trying to limit or shut down Polymarket’s operations in the States due to its offshore location, some Americans are using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent restrictions.