Polymarket faces federal probe over whether it blocked U.S. traders under 2022 settlement

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether Polymarket, the prediction market, violated a 2022 settlement requiring it to keep U.S. users off its offshore platform, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The inquiry covers the company's methods for determining customers' locations and its U.S. advertising. The CFTC is also separately examining a newer, regulated U.S. platform that Polymarket launched in late December, including its customer registration and trader protections. Sources said the probe concerns past safeguards rather than current offshore access, and no start date was given. The news came one week before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Earlier CFTC and Justice Department probes into the company were closed last year without charges, and neither agency has publicly explained those decisions.

NPR, the left-leaning outlet, headlines its piece 'Polymarket has investigated dozens of election-related cases' and leads with the company's own enforcement, including its hiring of a former FBI official to keep political insiders from profiting from confidential election information. Its excerpt does not mention the CFTC inquiry. The New York Post, a right-leaning outlet, headlines the federal probe over the 2022 deal and gives high placement to the firing of chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber, a close ally of CEO Shayne Coplan. It also notes the platform is based in Panama and that earlier probes closed without charges. CNBC, the alternative-leaning outlet, headlines a renewed CFTC probe and adds that the inquiry follows a Wall Street Journal report that Polymarket paid creators to post videos of simulated trades and fabricated wins, while placing the probe against midterm polls showing Democrats leading for the House. The Post and CNBC agree the probe concerns past compliance, but differ on emphasis, with NPR centering on insider-trading safeguards.