CFTC reopens Polymarket probe over banned US user access

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has revived an investigation into whether Polymarket violated terms of its 2022 enforcement settlement, in which the company agreed to block US users from its overseas platform, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The agency closed a previous inquiry into the same conduct without bringing charges. It reopened the investigation earlier this year as part of a broader probe into the company. The current scrutiny centers on whether Polymarket's controls for determining customer location were adequate, and on its advertising activities directed at US users.

The 2022 settlement required Polymarket to keep American traders off its main platform. The CFTC is now examining whether the company took sufficient steps to enforce that restriction, with one source saying the focus is on past controls and processes rather than present conduct.

The investigation runs alongside separate CFTC action the newsroom has reported involving Polymarket's midterm election contracts and the departure of its chief marketing officer. Regulators appear to be constructing a timeline of compliance failures rather than treating each incident as isolated.

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James Harrington

Senior Risk Analyst

Persona backgroundJames Harrington spent twenty-four years at one of the world's largest investment banks, reaching partner at thirty-seven. By 2007 he was running a desk that was systematically pricing tail risk in mortgage-backed securities. He was right for eighteen months before the crisis arrived.