 Coinbase informs users of CFTC subpoena involving Polymarket 
2025-01-09
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The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly facing a subpoena from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in connection with the crypto-based prediction market platform Polymarket.
The CFTC has served Coinbase with a subpoena involving the crypto-based prediction market platform Polymarket, the company reportedly stated in a customer notice on Jan. 8.
The news was reported by EthHub co-founder Eric Conner in an X post on Wednesday.
“We write to inform you that Coinbase has been served with a subpoena in the above-referenced matter seeking general customer information that includes information related to your account,” Coinbase reportedly said.
Coinbase “may be required” to send user account data to CFTC
According to the reported communication from Coinbase, no action is required from users, but Coinbase “may be required” to send certain information related to user accounts to the CFTC in response to the subpoena.
The requirement may be the case unless Coinbase is “formally served by the close of business on Jan. 15, 2025, with a motion to quash or other legal filing that prevents Coinbase from sharing this information,” the notice added.
“The dems crypto pivot truly was something else,” EthHub’s Conner said in a subsequent X post.
What’s wrong with Polymarket?
The CFTC subpoena to Coinbase comes amid growing uncertainty around Polymarket after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan in mid-November.
The raids came a week after Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election on Nov. 6, 2024.
Cryptocurrency investors made millions of dollars from betting on Trump’s victory on Polymarket, with some users netting $50 million in profits from betting on his presidential win.
Concerns about the potential manipulation of Polymarket’s decentralized prediction market have been raised by some industry executives.
Some global regulators, such as France’s Autorité nationale des jeux, reportedly launched an investigation into Polymarket operations and compliance with local gambling laws on Nov. 7, 2024.
Though headquartered in New York, Polymarket has been inaccessible to US residents since 2022, following a $1.4 million settlement with the CFTC that accused the firm of running an unregistered derivatives trading platform.
As Polymarket reportedly geo-blocks US users from placing bets on the platform, media reports suggested that many US users evaded the ban using VPNs.
Cointelegraph approached Coinbase and Polymarket for a comment regarding the subpoena news but did not receive a response at the time of publication.