CFTC Reopens Probe into Polymarket’s 2022 Settlement Compliance

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched a new inquiry into whether prediction-market platform Polymarket violated the enforcement settlement it reached in 2022. The probe focuses on the company’s geolocation controls, U.S. advertising practices, and customer-onboarding procedures for its domestic platform that began operating in late 2025. The agency’s review revives an investigation that was closed in 2025 without charges.

CNBCCFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls Reuters

On January 3 2022, the CFTC announced a civil monetary penalty of $1.4 million against Blockratize, Inc., doing business as Polymarket, for offering event-based binary options without registration. The settlement also required Polymarket to block U.S. users from its offshore exchange, operated through a Panama-registered entity.

CFTC probes Polymarket over alleged 2022 U.S. ban breach - report

Polymarket later said it had overhauled its controls, prohibiting VPNs and deploying monitoring systems. In August 2025, Shana Bautista, Polymarket’s global head of investigations and intelligence, told Reuters that circumvention by U.S. users was “not a really prevalent issue.”

Reuters

• January 3 2022 – CFTC issues $1.4 million penalty and settlement requiring U.S. user block.

CFTC probes Polymarket over alleged 2022 U.S. ban breach - report

• 2024 – CFTC and DOJ open separate investigations; FBI searches CEO Shayne Coplan’s New York home in November.

Reuters

• July 15 2025 – Coplan posts on X that the probes were closed and the company cleared.

Reuters

• Late 2025 – Polymarket acquires a CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange and begins rolling out a U.S. platform.

CFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls

• October 27 2026 – Reuters reports the CFTC’s renewed investigation into compliance with the 2022 settlement.

CNBC

• October 28 2026 – Additional reporting confirms the focus on geolocation, advertising, and onboarding controls.

CFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls

• The 2022 settlement required a $1.4 million civil penalty and the cessation of non-compliant markets.

CFTC probes Polymarket over alleged 2022 U.S. ban breach - report

• In April 2026, U.S. prosecutors charged soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke with $400,000 in profits from insider bets placed on Polymarket’s offshore platform via a VPN.

CFTC Reopens Questions About Polymarket’s Promise To Keep Americans Out

Polymarket maintains that its safeguards—geofencing, VPN prohibitions, and monitoring tools—are designed to keep U.S. residents off the offshore exchange. The company declined to comment on the latest CFTC inquiry. The CFTC, through unnamed sources, indicated it is examining whether Polymarket’s location-determination systems and U.S. advertising meet regulatory standards, as well as the customer-protection measures of its newly launched domestic platform.

CFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls U.S. Regulators Reopen Probe into Polymarket’s Compliance with 2022 Settlement Reuters

Public sources agree the renewed probe does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing. However, the precise evidence prompting the agency’s review has not been disclosed, leaving a gap in public understanding of whether specific compliance failures have been identified.

CFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls

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CFTC Reopens Probe Into Polymarket's U.S. Access Controls

The investigation remains ongoing, and no enforcement action has been announced. Both the CFTC and Polymarket have refrained from providing further details.

Reuters