Crypto Shadow War: After FBI Raids Polymarket Founder, Rival Kalshi Allegedly Pays KOLs to Manipulate Public Opinion?
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Crypto Shadow War: After FBI Raids Polymarket Founder, Rival Kalshi Allegedly Pays KOLs to Manipulate Public Opinion?
Kalshi funded a KOL to imply that its competitor Polymarket and CEO Shayne Coplan were engaged in illegal activities.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Pirate Wires
Translation: Felix, PANews
On November 13 local time, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the New York residence of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, seizing his phone and electronic devices. The investigation centers on whether Polymarket has been operating as an unlicensed commodity exchange.
However, following this incident, it appears to involve more than just regulatory compliance—it may also include commercial competition. According to reporting by U.S. media outlet Pirate Wires, Kalshi funded influencers to suggest that its competitor Polymarket and CEO Shayne Coplan were engaged in illegal activities. Below are the details.
Sources and screenshots indicate that shortly after Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s SoHo apartment was raided at around 6 a.m. on November 13, Kalshi, a direct competitor of Polymarket, paid social media influencers to spread news of the raid and promote narratives alleging that Shayne and Polymarket were involved in criminal activity.
Additional screenshots provided by sources appear to show influencers discussing their paid partnerships with Kalshi after the raid. One source said that just days after the raid, a third party linked to Kalshi offered him $3,500 to write an "attack article" about Polymarket.
In one chat screenshot (see below), a Kalshi employee asked Antonio Brown—a former NFL wide receiver with 2.2 million X followers—to post specific information about the raid.
Kalshi growth team member Keaton Inglis asked in the message: “Hey Antonio Brown, are you going to comment on this with something like ‘this nigger seems guilty’?” He appeared to be referencing a post by CJ Pearson implying Shayne's corruption (archived link). Keaton Inglis’s colleague and Kalshi’s Chief of Staff, Brendan Beckhardt, added: “Let’s get moving.”
On November 15, Antonio Brown quoted CJ Pearson’s tweet (archived link) with the caption: “This nigger seems guilty…”
On the same day, a third-party entity connected to Kalshi offered Elijah Schaffer, a reporter for Gateway Pundit with 772,000 followers, $3,500 to write a “hot article” promoting the narrative that Polymarket and Shayne were involved in criminal activity. Schaffer disclosed in a phone call with Pirate Wires that he rejected the offer.
Other screenshots show that in the days immediately following the FBI raid on Shayne’s apartment, several influencers pushed anti-Polymarket messaging while discussing their paid relationships with Kalshi.
One screenshot shows a representative of Clown World—an account with 2.8 million followers—discussing a paid partnership with Kalshi. On November 14, the day after the raid, the account posted (archive link): “Person resembling SBF raided by FBI over illegal betting scheme,” referring to Shayne. Since the election, Clown World has repeatedly shared other content linked to Kalshi (archive link).
Another screenshot shows Miami-based influencer Arynne Wexler, who has over 67,000 followers, discussing her “deal” with Kalshi at the end of October. On November 14, Arynne Wexler posted a video (archive link) about the raid, claiming that trading on Polymarket is illegal in the United States, while noting that “Kalshi holds a license to operate in the U.S.,” and urged her followers to “check the platforms you use and make sure they’re legal in the U.S.” Like Clown World, Arynne Wexler had previously posted other Kalshi-related content before the election (archive link).
If true, these allegations would expose a brutal behind-the-scenes battle between two companies vying for dominance in the U.S. prediction market—Kalshi paying major social media accounts to run covert public relations campaigns on its behalf without clear disclosure of significant conflicts of interest.
According to Bloomberg, the raid on Shayne’s apartment is part of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. In a 2022 settlement agreement with the CFTC, Polymarket was barred from accepting trades from U.S. users after launching operations without prior approval from the agency to become a Designated Contract Market (DCM), and paid a $1.4 million fine. Polymarket currently geo-blocks U.S. visitors attempting to create accounts; it remains unclear whether the DOJ investigation involves users circumventing these geo-blocks.
Kalshi launched its platform in 2021 after receiving CFTC approval to operate as a DCM in 2020, offering various non-political event contracts. In 2023, the CFTC rejected Kalshi’s application to allow trading on congressional control contracts. The company sued the agency, and in September 2024, a district court ruled in Kalshi’s favor. In October of last year, a circuit court denied the CFTC’s emergency motion to stay that ruling, effectively allowing Kalshi to offer event contracts on congressional control and other political topics.
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan declined to comment on the matter. Requests for comment sent to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Keaton Inglis, Antonio Brown, Arynne Wexler, and Clown World went unanswered.
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