Polymarket Introduces New Information Markets After CFTC Fine, but Not for US Traders
The decentralized predictions marketplace received a $1.4 million fine from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Jan 24, 2022 at 8:05 p.m. UTC:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/BDC26CH3YBAZTOU6W6UA52MGI4.jpg)
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Cheyenne Ligon is a CoinDesk news reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She has no significant crypto holdings.
Decentralized predictions platform Polymarket has launched new information markets just three weeks after being fined $1.4 million by regulators. However, U.S. residents will not be able to trade on the site, the company said in an email Monday.
- U.S. residents will be able only to view information on the markets.
- Polymarket said it will block trades from U.S.-based users as it continues “working through the regulation process and focusing on the future of the company.”
- Earlier this month, Polymarket launched a market called Airdrop Futures that allows speculators to follow and trade on the likelihood of airdrops. This feature is also unavailable to U.S.-based traders.
- On Jan. 3, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Polymarket $1.4 million and ordered it to close its markets and offer users full refunds.
- Bloomberg reported the CFTC started investigating Polymarket in October.
- When the probe began, Polymarket was reportedly in talks to raise money at an approximately $1 billion valuation.
UPDATE (Jan. 24, 2022, 20:13 UTC): Adds bullet point on Airdrop Futures.
CORRECTION (Jan. 14, 22:10 UTC): Changes headline and first sentence to reflect that new markets have been issued on Polymarket following the CFTC action and that the site wasn't shut down. A public relations communication for Polymarket mistakenly said that the company had relaunched its site.
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Cheyenne Ligon is a CoinDesk news reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She has no significant crypto holdings.
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Cheyenne Ligon is a CoinDesk news reporter with a focus on crypto regulation and policy. She has no significant crypto holdings.
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