The cryptocurrency world recorded another victory after Donald Trump returned to the White House. Two separate investigations into Polymet, a crypto forecasting platform that intensified on the last day of the Biden administration, have been shut down under Trump.
Sources familiar with the issue have revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have notified Polymarket earlier this month that their investigation had concluded.
Polymet gained great traction during the 2024 election cycle when users used cryptocurrencies to predict political outcomes. However, the popularity has sparked an investigation into whether the platform accepts transactions from US users, violating previous agreements with federal regulators.
The situation escalated a week after the November 2024 election. FBI agents stormed the gorgeous New York apartment of Polymake founder Shayne Coplan before dawn. The 27-year-old CEO described the move as a last-minute effort by the Biden administration to target companies affiliated with his political rivals, robbing the phone seizure.
These developments have been welcomed in the crypto community as a sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to reverse the crackdown on digital assets. The US Congress is set to present Trump with its first comprehensive bill this week, including industry regulations.
Polymarket’s CFTC investigation began when the platform was placed under the agency’s jurisdiction due to forecast contracts similar to futures contracts. In January 2022, the parties agreed to block US users from the platform. However, the investigation continued due to suspicion that these restrictions could have been avoided through methods such as VPNs. The platform reached a trading volume of around $2.6 billion in November.
The closure of the investigation could pave the way for Polymake to officially return to the US market, perhaps through registration with CFTC, as a futures exchange or acquisition of a licensed company.
Polymarket aims to bring forecast services to its social media platforms by announcing Elon Musk’s partnership with X and artificial intelligence company Xai. It also continues to raise capital in new investment rounds led by Peter Thiel’s Founder Fund.
*This is not investment advice.
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