Polymarket is paying online creators to post misleading videos that show them making lucrative bets on the prediction market. a new investigation In the Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ said it analyzed 1,100 videos about PolyMarket and also looked at instructional materials provided by the company to creators. Many of those videos were reportedly filmed on “near-perfect copies” of the Polymarket website, while showing trades and winnings that were not real. The creator videos were then enhanced by a “social-media army” deployed by a marketing contractor.
The WSJ said the company also told those creators not to specify that they were paid by Polymarket, although creators began adding “@polymarket partner” to their bios after journalists asked questions.
Razin Khan, a college student and producer who worked with Polymarket until March, compared the practice to commercials that make fast food look more appealing than it is in real life: “We’re portraying what actually happens.”
Polymarket said it is “committed to maintaining an accurate, fair and transparent marketplace” and plans to audit its promotional materials.
