Key Highlights
- Allegations that Polymarket’s marketing chief used personal PayPal payments to fund influencers promoting the platform without clear disclosure.
- Influencers reportedly created hundreds of posts about Polymarket while many did not label them as paid partnerships.
- Regulators and experts raise concerns about FTC disclosure rules and growing scrutiny over prediction market marketing practices.
Polymarket, a prediction market platform led by CEO Shayne Coplan, is facing scrutiny over claims that its chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, quietly paid a large number of online influencers to promote the platform without clearly telling audiences that these were paid posts.
According to a report from POLITICO, these payments are said to have been made through social media influencers across politics and lifestyle content, mainly on X. Now, users are questioning the platform’s honesty.
Polymarket questioned over paid influencer posts
Based on the payment records reviewed by POLITICO, Modabber allegedly used a personal PayPal account to send at least $350,000 to an influencer named Nick Shirley and other creators between January 2025 and February 2026.
The same records show that total payments may have gone beyond $2.5 million, reaching more than 800 people.
According to the records, at least 20 influencers who received payments later posted about Polymarket on X, with about 490 posts in total, and many of them did not clearly say they were being paid. The report mentions names like conservative commentator Alex LoRusso, political analyst Brian Krassenstein, and athlete-turned-media personality Riley Gaines.
Influencer posts without disclosure
In one example, influencer Nick Shirley posted viral political content while wearing a hoodie with the Polymarket logo after receiving payments from Modabber. Another influencer, Shane Ginsberg, is said to have received at least $77,000 while creating election-focused videos that directly promoted Polymarket.
A lot of the content made Polymarket look like a trusted place where people can “bet on news” and predict real-world events like elections, government shutdowns, and political outcomes. In many cases, influencers showed charts, logos, or talked about Polymarket’s accuracy, but did not clearly say they were being paid.
POLITICO reported that during the 14-month period it studied, none of the posts clearly marked themselves as sponsored or paid content. A Polymarket spokesperson said these influencer partnerships are part of normal business, but did not explain how they decide what should be disclosed or why personal accounts were used for payments. POLITICO said Modabber himself did not respond to requests for comment.
Rules around influencer marketing
The issue is that rules from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says influencers must clearly show when they are paid or have a “material connection” to what they are promoting. Former FTC official Robin Moore said this type of activity would normally need disclosure, saying, “It sounds like this would be the type of thing that generally should be disclosed.”
Social media expert Renée DiResta also explained that many viewers do not stop to think if an influencer is being paid.
The report also shows that influencer marketing has become a major tool for prediction platforms. Kalshi, a competitor to Polymarket, has also worked with influencers and even hired creators to promote its services. One influencer told POLITICO that both companies relied heavily on creators, saying, “Kalshi and Polymarket, they literally at some point owned all big influencers.
Prediction market growth during 2024 election
Meanwhile, Polymarket has seen good performance recently during major political events, especially around the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
During this period, users placed more than $1.5 billion in bets on Donald Trump’s win, while over $1 billion was placed on Kamala Harris. At the same time, Trading activity jumped sharply, with monthly volumes rising about 400% between September and October 2024, according to Dune Analytics.
However, influencers played a big role in spreading the awareness, using street interviews, short videos, and political commentary to introduce Polymarket to large online audiences.
One example is Shane Ginsberg, who made street interview videos in Atlanta during the election period. In one clip on Instagram, he asked people about Trump and Biden and then introduced Polymarket as a place to “bet on news,” showing the platform on screen. His style focused on quick, viral content that could spread widely through social networks, helping push the platform to younger audiences.
Regulatory response
Behind all this, regulators have been paying attention. Polymarket was previously blocked from U.S. users under a 2022 settlement, and investigations were carried out by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over possible rule violations.
After the 2024 election, federal agents reportedly searched the CEO’s home during enforcement actions.
Later, the political climate shifted, with the Trump administration taking a more relaxed approach and showing support for prediction markets, even as debate continues about how these platforms should be controlled going forward.
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