Gambler hits $85 million jackpot betting on Trump win

A man made $85 million in a series of wagers on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market that was a popular platform for betting on the US election won by Donald Trump, a blockchain analysis firm told AFP Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal said the man is a French citizen and former trader whose first name is Theo, though he declined to publicize his last name.

Last month, Polymarket said a French bettor had in fact wagered a large sum on Trump winning the November 5 election.

Chainanalysis, an American blockchain analysis firm, said it had done cross-checking and identified 11 Polymarket accounts with similar characteristics.

These accounts were fed at the same time, made bets at the same time and were emptied simultaneously, Chainanalysis told AFP.

This gambler bet a total of $70 million on Trump winning the election over Kamala Harris.

After the election was called, he got it all back and $85 million in winnings.

The Frenchman told the Journal he did, in fact, make this amount of money.

Polymarket did not immediately respond to a query from AFP.

Polymarket is an offshore betting platform launched in 2020 in which bets can be placed only in cryptocurrency.

As a result, it is technically off-limits for residents of the United States.

Like other betting platforms, Polymarket said Trump was the odds-on favorite to win the election, even though polls had him neck and neck with Harris.

US news outlets reported that FBI agents raided the New York home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday.

The New York Post said the FBI seized his phone and other electronic devices.

The cause and goal of this probe were not known.

However, a Polymarket spokesperson told the news website Axios that the raid was an "obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election."