Polymarket fires its CMO after probe—some markets saw that one coming

Leading decentralized betting platform Polymarket has fired chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber following an internal investigation into several instances of alleged misconduct, including a reported scheme built on fake trades, the New York Post reported. Modabber, who had held the role since January 2024, is a close friend of CEO Shayne Coplan. The Post said that friendship, which dated back to their high-school years, complicated the decision to fire him, while one source said Polymarket was finalizing a separation agreement.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Modabber’s team built a fake webpage highlighting videos of Polymarket users making money on fake trades. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened an investigation into the same matter that remains ongoing, and no wrongdoing has been proven. At the time, Polymarket told the Journal it was “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets.”

The New York Post said the internal probe covered several incidents that worried investors. According to the Post, Polymarket’s board concluded in recent weeks that Modabber was getting in the way of the company’s effort to shed its scrappy startup image as it considers a potential initial public offering. One source said an “irate” Coplan threatened to fire members of the legal team pursuing Modabber’s termination, adding that he later accepted that parting ways was best for the company.

Polymarket is a prediction market platform where users bet on the outcome of real-world events, from elections and sports to the weather and the Oscars, and it runs on crypto and blockchain technology. The platform gained notoriety in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when its odds were widely quoted. Coplan, 28, became the country’s youngest billionaire as a result, according to the Post. CoinDesk reached out to Polymarket for comment.