CFTC Reopens Polymarket Probe, Reviews Settlement to Block US Users

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is again reviewing Polymarket’s measures to block access by US users. The renewed probe revisits a matter the agency had closed last year and includes user location checks, advertising and sign-up procedures.

Reuters reported on October 28, citing two people familiar with the matter, that the CFTC is investigating whether Polymarket complied with its 2022 settlement. Under that agreement, Polymarket was required to block US users from accessing its offshore platform. The latest review is part of a broader investigation into Polymarket that began earlier this year.

According to the sources, the CFTC is examining how Polymarket verifies users’ actual locations and whether it advertised in the US. The platform’s onboarding process and consumer protection measures are also under review. The CFTC and Polymarket declined to comment, and no violation has been confirmed.

Polymarket was fined $1.4 million in 2022 over allegations that it offered unregistered event-based binary options. After trading tied to the US presidential election surged, the CFTC and the Justice Department examined whether the company had complied with the settlement, but both agencies closed that investigation in July 2025. Polymarket later moved to reenter the US market by acquiring a CFTC-licensed exchange.

A separate insider trading case has highlighted how a US user allegedly bypassed the platform’s restrictions. Master Sgt. Gannon Kent Van Dyke of the US Army is accused of using a VPN to access Polymarket’s offshore platform and place bets using information tied to an operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Prosecutors say he put in about $34,000 and turned it into more than $400,000.

A court recently denied Van Dyke’s motion to dismiss the indictment. He has pleaded not guilty, and the trial is tentatively scheduled for December 7.