Saylor Sold Bitcoin, Polymarket Said "No," and Now It's in Court ⚖️

Two Polymarket traders are suing the prediction-market platform over a disputed Bitcoin market on Strategy's $BTC holdings, alleging the contract was rewritten after the event to avoid paying out. William Wood and Thomas Bush filed the complaint in the New York Supreme Court on July 3, naming Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber. The lawsuit claims breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment in the alternative, deceptive acts and practices, and false advertising, and seeks the $1-per-share value of their "Yes" shares along with damages and legal fees. Wood wrote on X on July 6, 2026: "1 month ago, Polymarket scammed me for $500K, with 1,868 traders losing a total of $6.5M. Now we're taking Polymarket to court."

The disputed market asked whether Michael Saylor's Strategy would sell any Bitcoin by May 31. In a June 1 SEC filing, Strategy disclosed it had sold 32 BTC between May 26 and 31, the company's first Bitcoin sale since 2022. Because the disclosure landed a day after the market's deadline, Polymarket added a note stating that "confirmation achieved outside of the market's timeframe does not qualify," and the contract resolved "No" after a vote by UMA token holders, the oracle Polymarket uses to settle disputes. Strategy subsequently outlined a plan to sell up to $1.25 billion more to fund its dividends and this week offloaded about $216 million in Bitcoin under its "BTC monetization program."

The plaintiffs argue that Strategy's filing was unambiguous proof under the market's rules, which named the company's disclosures as the primary source, and that attaching a confirmation deadline afterward undermined Polymarket's stated commitment to objective outcomes. The complaint says a market that "does not seek truth; it controls payout." Polymarket has recorded more than 1,150 disputed markets in 2026, already exceeding last year's total, and reporting by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal has found that a small cluster of large wallets influences many resolutions, with several UMA voters also holding positions in the markets they adjudicate. The Strategy market, which drew more than $50 million in trading volume, is the platform's largest dispute since a $237 million market last year on whether Ukraine's president wore a suit.

Burwick Law, which filed the case, said it is evaluating similar claims from other traders. Polymarket is in talks to raise additional capital, according to reporting on the matter.