FBI Raids Home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan

As a former user of in-trade and more recently of poly market, it is so annoying that there are laws against these sites. They serve an incredibly important function: letting people learn what’s happening in the world around us by observing a single number (e.g. % win probability).

I most receently used the site yesterday to see what the incumbent Australian government’s reelection chances are after they tabled ‘ID and age requirements to use social media’ laws, but polymarket didn’t seem to have Australian politics odds, so I was left using oddschecker, which is inferior due to the annoying way it displays odds and it not storing historical data.

When these sorts of things get in the cross-hairs of the government, it's often not so much "laws against" but rather the lack of laws / regulation. We have seen this with Poker, Crypto, Crypto Exchanges, the lost goes on. If you're operating at the edge, you probably need to be working closely with someone to make damn sure the laws are covering your ass. Or that the laws can be created / changed for the new industry. If you're not big enough to do this, then danger ahead.

The US was not founded on this "permission" mindset. It's a free country. If you are not harming anyone or violating any existing laws, you are free to build new products and services. You do not need permission from bureaucrats to invent something new!

I'm pulling examples from actual US history. If it involves gambling (or similar) or creating alternate forms of money, then watch out. You can believe that you don't need permission, then tell that to the FBI as they are raiding your house.