Coinbase Exchange Asked by US to Help Investigate Polymarket
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has sent an email to customers informing them that it will assist US authorities in investigating the Polymarket platform.
Confirming with news site The Block, a representative of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, Coinbase, said that it is cooperating with US authorities to serve the investigation of the Polymarket prediction market platform.
Previously, on January 9, many Coinbase users shared on social media an email sent from the exchange, informing them that it was assisting in the Polymarket investigation and that they may be forced to provide personal information of customers to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Biden's CFTC is subpoenaing customer info from @coinbase in their case against @Polymarket pic.twitter.com/YlCdUPwHs7
— eric.eth (@econoar) January 8, 2025
In an interview with The Block, a Coinbase representative affirmed that they will try to provide the most concise information requested by US authorities, and are even willing to refuse to share information if they feel it is inappropriate.
As reported, since achieving success and becoming the center of attention of the US media thanks to the market predicting the results of the 2024 US Presidential election with a trading volume of up to 3.6 billion USD, Polymarket has been noticed by US authorities and launched an investigation on charges of manipulating political results. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) even seized the phone and electronic devices of Shayne Coplan, founder of Polymarket, at his home in New York City.
Coplan later issued a statement claiming that its product had provided value to millions of users and “implied” that the current administration was seeking revenge after its election defeat.
In early 2022, Polymarket paid a $1.4 million fine to the CFTC for offering an options trading product that was not registered with the commission. The project also had to block US users to avoid further trouble.
Not only in the US, Polymarket also got into trouble in France after a citizen of this country made a profit of up to $80 million by predicting the outcome of the US presidential election through their platform. Polymarket then had to stop supporting users from this EU country.
