Polymarket Paid Adin Ross Millions While Promoting Insider Tips

A recent investigation found that Polymarket paid streamer Adin Ross a multimillion-dollar promotional fee and boosted dozens of his videos, including at least five that outlined ways to trade using nonpublic information. The promotional campaign included paid clips that walked viewers through tactics for exploiting inside tips and manipulating markets.

Under the agreement, the 25-year-old streamer gave roughly half an hour per week on his livestream to browse the Polymarket platform and comment on potential trades. A marketing contractor working with the company targeted many of Ross’s clips for paid promotion, and investigators identified promoted videos that explicitly discussed trading on information not available to the public.

The marketing push extended beyond Ross. Creators and clippers were paid to produce and amplify content that simulated trading and demonstrated strategies for using inside information or gaming market mechanics. Some clips showed fabricated trades on near-replicas of Polymarket’s site. Investigators counted at least 19 promoted videos that contained walkthroughs of trading on inside tips or other market-manipulation techniques.

Polymarket provided a statement that the platform prohibits trading based on stolen material, illegal tips, or information obtained in breach of a duty of trust or confidentiality. The company pointed to a market-integrity framework that it formalized in March, including on-chain transparency, monitoring and procedures for escalating concerns to regulators. Polymarket added a surveillance partnership with Chainalysis in late April and said it will audit its active promotional content.

The disclosures come as Polymarket has been working to reestablish an onshore presence after a 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The company has also expanded into perpetual futures and other products.

Federal scrutiny of prediction markets has increased. In April, the Justice Department charged Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke with using classified information to win more than $400,000 on contracts tied to a U.S. operation related to Nicolás Maduro; the defendant pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in December.

A separate review found that Polymarket’s chief marketing officer paid more than two dozen influencers at least $350,000 to promote the platform on social media, often without clear disclosure of the paid relationships. That review identified gaps in how promotional content disclosed compensation and described platform risks.

Adin Ross is also named in class-action litigation over alleged deceptive gambling promotion tied to the online casino platform Stake.us. Representatives for Ross and for other celebrity promoters declined to comment. Regulators and litigants are reviewing promotional practices and platform controls to determine whether they adequately limited potential abuse.