Polymarket Probes Dozens of Midterm Election Bets

Polymarket has investigated dozens of bets on its midterm-election markets for possible insider trading and manipulation, the company’s investigations chief said, as its surveillance system generates hundreds of alerts daily ahead of the November 3 vote. Shana Bautista, head of global intelligence and investigations at Polymarket, described the investigations in an interview. A person familiar with the probes said at least two cases had been referred to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Polymarket has not detailed those referrals. Bautista said the company’s election-surveillance system draws on campaign-finance, social-media, cryptocurrency, banking and other data. It flags activity for investigators, but Bautista declined to disclose the specific detection criteria, citing system security. The system monitors trading on Polymarket’s U.S.-regulated platform, which requires identity verification, and its international platform, where users can trade anonymously using cryptocurrency. Bautista said crypto trading does not necessarily prevent investigators from identifying people behind accounts. Polymarket’s team handling election trades and suspicious activity has 16...