FBI raided the home of Shayne Coplan the chief executive of the predictive betting site Polymarket. He was instructed to give the agents his phone and other electronic gadgets. Polymaket felt that this raid was a retaliation by the Joe Biden administration for the betting platform's accurate predictions of the outcome of the elections.
But the Department of Justice claimed that Polymarket is under investigation for allegedly allowing US-based users to bet on the site. Polymarket doesn't have permission to operate bets and predictions in the US but users usually invade the prohibition using VPNs.
Elon Musk and Brian Armstrong have both criticised this raid calling it an attack on political opponents of the present administration. Most people think that this attack was because the government thinks that Polymaket's polls that showed overwhelming support for Donald Trump contributed to his victory.
Do you think gambling platforms should avoid political events?
It is very convenient cover for PolyMarket to blame "political betting" but there have been plenty of shady activities conducted by bookmakers in the past and this is unlikely to be the real reason. It is much more likely to be the fact that they allowed US players to bet without submitting to the right authorities - it's like the number one rule when it comes to gambling sites, if you allow US players then you better be following the rules precisely. So many sites have been shut down for this in the past and almost any gambling site you go on will have geoblockers and reject people who give their location as based in America, because it's way too much hassle. Almost every single betting site around the world had the same odds predicted, there was nothing otherwise special about them doing it and political betting should be allowed like any other sports bet.