Polymarket's chief marketing officer tapped a personal PayPal account over the past 14 months to send more than $2.5 million to over 800 individuals, according to records reviewed by GFdaily. At least $350,000 of that money went to influencers who promoted the crypto prediction market on X without telling their followers they were paid.
The payment pipeline
The CMO's personal PayPal sent funds to a sprawling network of recipients — some of them one-off payments, others recurring. The total sum, $2.5 million, wasn't run through Polymarket's corporate accounts or any formal influencer marketing platform. That's unusual for a company that handles millions in bets and has raised over $70 million from venture investors.
Sources familiar with the payment flows say the operation ran with minimal oversight. The CMO personally approved and executed the transfers over the 14-month period. Polymarket didn't respond to requests for comment by press time.
Undisclosed promoters
At least 800 individuals received money, but the $350,000 in influencer payments is the piece drawing scrutiny. Those payments went to X accounts that regularly posted about Polymarket's election markets, sports bets, and other prediction contracts. None of the posts carried the standard #ad or #sponsored tags that the Federal Trade Commission expects when money changes hands for promotion.
The influencers weren't employees or contractors with formal agreements. They were paid directly from the CMO's personal account, making it harder for Polymarket or the public to track which posts were bought. Several of the accounts have tens of thousands of followers.
The disclosure gap puts Polymarket in a precarious spot. The FTC has been cracking down on undisclosed influencer endorsements across industries, and crypto companies are already under a spotlight. A referral fee or a paid shout-out that isn't labeled as such can trigger fines or a consent decree.
There's also the question of why a senior executive at a VC-backed company would route payments through a personal account. It may have been a quick workaround to get influencers paid fast — but it creates a compliance headache. Polymarket has faced regulatory heat before, including a $1.4 million settlement with the CFTC in 2022 over unregistered event contracts. This new revelation could invite another look from regulators.
For now, the CMO's payment records exist. Whether Polymarket can show that the influencers' posts complied with disclosure rules — or that it even tried — is an open question.
