Polymarket CEO dismisses NY Times claims of political bias

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan dismissed allegations from The New York Times suggesting that the prediction platform exhibits political favoritism.

Coplan characterized the Polygon-based betting platform as a neutral provider of alternative data that is currently capitalizing on the excitement surrounding elections. His statements were made in reply to a recent article from The New York Times, which accused Polymarket of partisan biases and described it as merely a “crypto-powered gambling” operation.

The CEO also refuted claims that entrepreneur Peter Thiel and his Founders Fund influence the company’s decisions. While the Founders Fund did invest $45 million in Polymarket, Coplan emphasized that neither Thiel nor his fund holds significant ownership stakes in the firm.

According to Coplan, Polymarket functions as a free marketplace where users establish prices and odds. Third parties can only access the trading statistics since the platform operates on decentralized technology.

The brilliance of Polymarket lies in its peer-to-peer nature and transparency. In fact, it is more transparent than conventional finance, where data is often hidden and only accessible to the operator. This allows everyone to audit the platform’s usage – which is advantageous for free markets. It’s a feature, not a flaw.

Shayne Coplan, Polymarket CEO

In light of the recent New York Times article on Polymarket, I think it’s the right moment to clarify:

• Polymarket is entirely non-partisan. We hear that we’re aligned with both Democrats and MAGA, depending on the day. Unfortunately, the reality is much less sensational; we’re just market enthusiasts who… pic.twitter.com/jz87JiO6AH

— Shayne Coplan (@shayne_coplan) October 25, 2024

Coplan’s company has emerged as one of the standout successes in the crypto space this year, with over $1 billion recorded in betting volume in September alone. Its primary market, centered on the U.S. presidential elections, experienced over $2.3 billion in volume just 11 days prior to the voting for the next president.

At the time of writing, Donald Trump maintained his lead over Kamala Harris on the platform, holding a 64.1% probability of winning, while Harris’ odds had plummeted to 35.9%.

Amid Bloomberg integration and the NYT accusations, additional data pointed to another discussion point regarding Polymarket. Even as the company has secured billions in bets, it has remitted less than $30,000 in transaction fees to Polygon’s blockchain this year.