A Wall Street Journal investigation published June 21, 2026, found that Polymarket paid influencers $2,000 to $3,000 a month to post staged winning-bet videos filmed on cloned sites, not the real platform. The Journal reviewed 1,105 videos; 778 showed bets placed on fake lookalike sites, none on Polymarket itself. The content drew more than 140 million views on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
The videos depicted $1.9 million in staged wagers and $900,000 in fabricated winnings. Creators filmed on "poiymarket.com," a lookalike domain. They were told not to disclose the paid relationship; after the Journal contacted them, some retroactively added "@polymarket partner" to their bios. The campaign ran January through mid-May 2026, targeting younger American users even though Polymarket has been barred from serving U.S. customers since a 2022 CFTC settlement.
Polymarket said it is "committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets" and announced an audit of its promotional content.
