Polymarket Says 'Investigating' After Massachusetts Rep Blasts Company for Offering Bets on Missing US Service Member Shot Down Over Iran

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on

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Jagajeet Chiba

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Plane over Iran

Democratic candidate for US Senate in Massachusetts, Seth Moulton, tore into the prediction market Polymarket for offering trading on whether a downed US pilot would be found alive in Iran. 

Polymarket did pull the market almost immediately, Gambling911.com can report. 

Moulton, who served four combat tours in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2001 to 2008, tweeted: 

"There is an ongoing search and rescue operation for a missing American service member whose plane was shot down over Iran. Their safety is unknown.

"They could be your neighbor, a friend, a family member. And people are betting on whether or not they'll be saved.

"This is DISGUSTING.

"Quick reminder too that @DonaldJTrumpJr is an investor in this dystopian death market and may have access to intelligence that isn't public yet."

Polymarket responded two hours later to Moulton's tweet. 

"We took this market down immediately as it does not meet our integrity standards.

"It should not have been posted, and we are investigating how this slipped through our internal safeguards."

Polymarket recently announced it would take action on insider trading, including in political markets.

The company maintains that it does not offer death-pool markets or anything resembling them. Markets that directly wager on whether a specific individual will die are generally prohibited or promptly removed, which appears to have occurred in this instance.

  • Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com 

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