Polymarket announced that it’s taking insider trading more seriously. Seen in its latest press release, the prediction market updated its market integrity rules, specifically those concerning insider trading and market manipulation. While Polymarket is taking the initiative to update its rules, it’s likely a response to the rise in suspicious bets, whether it’s about the US capture of Nicolás Maduro or the release of a new product from OpenAI.
As first reported on by Bloomberg, Polymarket is targeting three specific forms of trading activity. First off, users aren’t allowed to trade on “stolen confidential information,” or any behind-the-scenes knowledge about an outcome that people wouldn’t otherwise have access to. As an extension, Polymarket traders are also prohibited from taking advantage of “illegal tips,” which means that even if someone else has access to confidential information and passes it along, you still can’t trade on it. Lastly, anyone who has a “position of authority or influence sufficient to affect the outcome of the underlying event,” isn’t allowed to trade on said event.
Users can expect more surveillance and enforcement around these new rules, too. Polymarket explained that if it or its users find “unusual or potentially questionable trading activity,” the platform would conduct a review and if necessary, ban the wallet address, refer the issue to law enforcement or impose “monetary penalties.” If you’re curious what the punishment for insider trading on these prediction markets looks like, a recent case saw MrBeast’s video editor suspended for two years from the platform and fined five times the amount of his initial trade size after Kalshi concluded its investigation.