Polymarket is being targeted to support markets that report death.
On Friday, US House representative and Senatorial candidate Seth Moulton (D-MA) criticized prediction sites for promoting “dirty dead markets.”
There is a search and rescue mission for a missing American serviceman whose plane was shot down in Iran. Their safety is unknown. It can be your neighbor, friend, family member. And people are betting whether they will be saved or not.
He also criticized President Donald Trump for profiting from “dead markets,” saying he has access to collective intelligence.
Also a quick reminder that Donald Trump is a businessman in a dystopian dead market and may have wisdom that has not been seen in public.
Polymarket removes so-called ‘dead market’
Polymarket quickly kept the market open, saying it did not meet “integrity standards”. The company also explained that it is investigating how the market “jumped over its internal security.”
This is not the first time that Polymarket or prediction markets have been involved in such markets. In fact, many businessmen are said to have benefited from Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former Supreme Leader, who was assassinated during the US-Israeli attack.
In fact, on Polymarket, the account made more than $460K in profit trading contracts related to the attack on Iran and the removal of Khamenei.
The chain’s investigative agency Bubblemaps estimates that 12 insiders made more than $1.2 million from the Iran attacks and the death of their former leader. Most of the wallets were paid 24 hours before it happened and bought “US will hit Iran by February 28, 2026” a few hours before it happened.
Referring to “dead markets” and alleged insiders, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) to be beaten,
It’s crazy this is legit. People around Trump are profiting from war and death. I am introducing legislation ASAP to stop this.
Kalshi, another prediction site, also faced similar scrutiny after a class-action lawsuit failed to pay $54M to traders betting on Khamenei’s removal.
Overall, the betting markets have become a multi-billion dollar sector with interest rising in all areas of sports, politics, and other sectors.
That said, apart from the rising ethical questions, a a fight between the CFTC and the states that are supposed to regulate the prediction markets may also hinder the growth of the market in the US.
Brief Summary
- A US lawmaker has criticized prediction site Polymarket for ‘dead markets’ targeting missing soldiers in Iran.
- There has been growing opposition to the prediction market amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia.
