P2P.me discloses bets on own raise outcome on Polymarket

The team behind the decentralized trading platform P2P.me disclosed on March 27 that it had placed bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket regarding the outcome of its own 6 million capital raise, prompting questions about insider trading practices in the cryptocurrency sector.

According to the disclosure, shared via the X social media platform, P2P.me opened the positions 10 days before the fundraising round officially launched. The bets centered on whether the project would meet its 6 million target. At the time, the team had secured only an oral commitment of 3 million from venture capital firm Multicoin Capital, with no signed term sheets or guaranteed allocations, the company stated. The raise ultimately closed at 5.2 million, causing the Polymarket contract to resolve in the negative. The trades generated a profit of approximately 15,000 to 23,000 for the team, depending on the positions' specifics, with on-chain data showing trading volume around 149,000.

P2P.me acknowledged the controversy in its statement, noting that trading on an outcome the team could influence erodes trust. "We don't believe we were trading on a done deal, but we recognize reasonable...