Polymarket's Customer Data Sought by CFTC Subpoena of Coinbase, Source Says

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is said to beryllium seeking accusation astir customers' interactions with the prediction marketplace tract Polymarket.

Jan 9, 2025, 11:30 p.m. UTC

Coinbase Inc. (COIN) is informing customers that a U.S. regulator is demanding accusation astir interactions with prediction marketplace steadfast Polymarket, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the situation, and Coinbase has sent messages to customers saying the speech whitethorn person to stock that data.

Copies of the emails shared with immoderate customers person circulated connected social-media sites, and those warnings astir the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requests are accurate, the idiosyncratic said. The U.S. derivatives regulator has conducted a drawn-out ineligible conflict with prediction markets firms, and this latest determination comes conscionable days earlier the enactment of the bureau volition flip from Democratic to Republican erstwhile President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

"When we person requests for accusation from a government, each petition is cautiously reviewed by a squad of trained experts utilizing established procedures to find its ineligible sufficiency," a Coinbase spokesperson said successful an emailed statement, though the institution declined to corroborate receipt of the circumstantial subpoena. "Where necessary, we volition question to constrictive requests that are overly wide oregon vague successful bid to supply a much appropriately tailored response, and successful immoderate cases we entity to producing immoderate accusation astatine all."

The CFTC mislaid an archetypal lawsuit against prediction marketplace steadfast Kalshi erstwhile a U.S. national justice ruled precocious past twelvemonth that the bureau couldn't barroom the institution from listing predetermination contracts. However, the regulator rapidly filed an entreaty with a higher court, and Polymarket argued successful that caller ineligible clash that only Congress tin halt predetermination betting.

Read More: U.S. Election Betting: Federal Court 'Erred' successful Letting Kalshi Launch Prediction Markets, CFTC Says

Neither the CFTC nor Polymarket instantly responded to a petition for remark connected the effort to stitchery lawsuit information.

On January 20, Trump volition reclaim the White House, and he'll beryllium capable to name a caller president to regenerate Rostin Behnam, who has led the CFTC during its lengthy ineligible quality with the prediction businesses. The sitting Republican commissioners, Caroline Pham and Summer Mersinger person drawn attraction arsenic imaginable candidates for the unfastened chairmanship, arsenic has erstwhile Commissioner Brian Quintenz. 

Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's lawman managing exertion connected the Global Policy and Regulation team, based successful Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk successful 2022, helium worked for much than a decennary covering Wall Street regularisation astatine Bloomberg News and Businessweek, penning astir the aboriginal whisperings among national agencies trying to determine what to bash astir crypto. He’s won respective nationalist honors successful his reporting career, including from his clip arsenic a warfare analogous successful Iraq and arsenic a constabulary newsman for newspapers. Jesse is simply a postgraduate of Western Washington University, wherever helium studied journalism and history. He has nary crypto holdings.