Polymarket Faces Renewed CFTC Probe Over Compliance With 2022 Settlement

Polymarket is under a renewed investigation by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission over whether it complied with a January 2022 settlement that required the prediction market to stop serving US users, Reuters reported on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, citing two people familiar with the matter. Investigators are focused on how Polymarket determined customer locations, its advertising in the US, and onboarding and customer protections on the US platform it began rolling out late last year.

Scope of the renewed probe

The Reuters report says the questions about Polymarket's compliance with the 2022 deal fall within a wider CFTC investigation that was opened earlier this year. The scrutiny covers the firm's past controls and processes for keeping US customers off its offshore market, according to one source cited by Reuters. The CFTC, Polymarket and the US Department of Justice declined to comment to Reuters and had not issued public statements by publication time.

The 2022 settlement and later scrutiny

In January 2022 Polymarket settled CFTC charges that it offered event-based binary options without registering as an exchange, paid a $1.4 million civil penalty and agreed to wind down markets that did not comply with the Commodity Exchange Act. As part of that settlement Polymarket agreed to stop serving US users.

The CFTC first examined Polymarket's adherence to the agreement in the run-up to the 2024 US election, in parallel with a Justice Department inquiry. The FBI executed a search of CEO Shayne Coplan's home in New York in November 2024. Both agencies closed those probes in July 2025 without filing charges.

Controls, acquisitions and a US product

After those probes concluded, Polymarket purchased a CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange, which it later used to launch its US-facing business. The company says it has overhauled controls, prohibits VPNs and similar workarounds to its geographic restrictions, and monitors for misconduct. Shana Bautista, Polymarket's global head of investigations and intelligence, told Reuters in August that US users circumventing those restrictions was not "a really prevalent issue."

The renewed CFTC interest also follows a high-profile enforcement referral and a personnel change. The CFTC and the Justice Department charged US soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke in April, alleging he made $400,000 trading on inside information on Polymarket's offshore site; he allegedly reached the site through a VPN and has pleaded not guilty. Polymarket said it referred that case to authorities. Reuters' report comes days after separate coverage that Polymarket had pushed out chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber, and less than two weeks after the company took the state of Ohio to federal court over new CFTC rules.

"US users getting around those restrictions was not a really prevalent issue," said Shana Bautista to Reuters in August.

Reuters noted the new reporting raises questions about why the earlier probes were closed; the outlet emphasised that an investigation does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. For regulatory coverage see regulation and for industry reaction see news.