The Wall Street Journal found out, that Polymarket used duplicate sites and paid bloggers for staged winnings. How the scheme worked, why the videos looked believable and what happened after the investigation.
WSJ: Polymarket promoted the platform through staged winnings for bloggers
Major investigation The Wall Street Journal questioned the methods of promoting the platform Polymarket. According to the publication, the service collaborated with influencers, who published videos with supposedly big winnings. However, the posts were not created on the real platform, and on specially prepared twin sites, completely repeating the interface Polymarket.
Videos like this have been circulating on TikTok., X and other social networks, creating an impression, that any user can earn tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on literally one successful bet.
What the journalists found out
Journalists The Wall Street Journal studied more 1100 videos, published by ten bloggers since December 2025 on May 2026 year.
IN 118 video the authors talked about the winnings, the total amount of which exceeded 900 thousand dollars. However, testing the same forecasts on a real platform showed a completely different picture.: the actual gain was about 166 thousand dollars. The difference was almost fivefold.
How the scheme worked
According to the investigation, the content was not filmed on the official Polymarket website, and on its copies, where you could show almost any result.
One of the most discussed examples was a student’s video George Makihara, who claimed to have won 100 thousand dollars on forecasts, that Donald Trump will publicly say the word McDonald’s within a month.
However, journalists found out, that on the real platform more than fifty users made a similar bet, and none of them turned out to be in the black.
How much did bloggers get paid?
According to the WSJ, content creators received from 2 to 3 thousand dollars per month.
Moreover, one of the conditions of cooperation was the absence of any mention of the advertising nature of publications. An agency was also used for promotion Virality, which deals with native advertising and integrations with streamers.
Why do these videos work?
Stories of big wins are always interesting. Especially if it seems, that absolutely anyone can earn money.
According to the investigation, this is exactly what the promotion strategy was based on: spectators were shown impressive amounts, unusual events and created a feeling, that all it takes is a little luck to succeed. The lack of advertising labeling only strengthened the trust of the audience.
What happened after the publication of the investigation
After the material The Wall Street Journal received wide publicity, many bloggers have closed or deleted videos with staged winnings.
Besides, Polymarket, as reported by the publication, убрал сайты-двойники, которые использовались для записи подобных роликов.
Conclusion
История вокруг Polymarket показывает, что даже современные платформы прогнозов могут использовать маркетинговые приемы, давно знакомые индустрии азартных игр. Демонстрация крупных выигрышей, эмоциональные истории успеха и иллюзия легкого заработка по-прежнему остаются одним из самых эффективных способов привлечения новой аудитории.
При этом расследование WSJ напоминает: вирусные ролики с огромными выигрышами далеко не всегда отражают реальную статистику и опыт большинства пользователей.
