The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched at least three previously unreported investigations into suspected insider trading on Polymarket, according to a recent report from WIRED.
The probes cover event contracts linked to pardons granted by former President Joe Biden, Iran and Google’s 2025 Year in Search rankings.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig approved the first investigation in early May, which followed an NPR report about a trader who earned more than $300,000 from pardon-related markets after correctly predicting several preemptive pardons.
A second investigation, approved at the end of May, involved Iran-related contracts and followed a 60 Minutes report on accounts that reportedly earned $2.4 million with a 98% win rate.
In July, the CFTC approved a third investigation into suspected insider trading involving Google’s 2025 Year in Search ranking. An agency official said the probe would examine additional individuals and noted that the Southern District of New York was conducting a parallel investigation.
CFTC enforcement officials said the investigation was separate from an existing case against former Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo, who allegedly made more than $1.2 million trading Polymarket contracts based on confidential information about Google’s 2025 Year in Search rankings.
Polymarket has been focusing on rebuilding its reputation in the US after four years in exile. In late 2025, the company relaunched in the US following the acquisition of QCEX, giving Americans limited access to its event contracts under CFTC oversight.
The Justice Department, alongside the CFTC, previously examined whether the crypto prediction market circumvented restrictions on US traders imposed under a 2022 settlement with the CFTC. The authorities ended their probe last July.
