New York sues Polymarket over allegations of illegal gambling operations

The lawsuit comes two months after the state filed a similar lawsuit against competitor Kalshi.

The Polymarket lawsuit is the latest in a wave of lawsuits against prediction market platforms [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

New York State has filed a lawsuit against prediction market company Polymarket amid allegations that it violated state laws against illegal gambling.

The suit, filed on Thursday by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, comes two months after the state filed a similar lawsuit against competitor Kalshi . That followed the state suing Coinbase and Gemini for offering users the ability to bet on “sports, entertainment, and elections, in violation of New York laws”, according to a release from the attorney general’s office at the time.

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list 4 of 4 New York sues Kalshi, says its prediction markets are ‘illegal gambling’

The state accused all the companies of operating without licences from the State Gaming Commission.

“Our gambling laws exist to protect New Yorkers, prevent the potential harms of problem gambling, and ensure funding for educational and public benefit programs,” James said in a statement announcing the suit.

“By skirting New York’s laws, Polymarket is targeting the most vulnerable and depriving New York families of critical services and support. My office will never hesitate to take action to defend our laws and keep New Yorkers safe.”

The suit also alleges that the company encouraged gambling among young people. It accuses Polymarket of targeting users as young as 18, while state law requires users to be at least 21 years old to take part in mobile sports betting.

“By running an unlicensed gambling operation, Polymarket has done more than just knowingly violate state law, they have put New Yorkers at risk, especially those underage who are most vulnerable to problem gaming,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

The more than 30-page lawsuit claims that Polymarket, which is valued at more than $20bn, has advertised sports betting in particular since July 2025. It pointed to a post on X from August 17, 2025, about the launch of its US mobile app that said it was “BAD NEWS (For sportsbooks)”.

Prediction markets allow users to wager on so-called event contracts, covering political events, sports, elections and even award shows. Concerns about the role of prediction markets came to a head earlier this year when wagers were made in the hours before the United States and Israel first struck Iran, prompting widespread backlash in Washington.

Polymarket pushed back on the allegations.

“We chose to engage with them directly on the substance and address their concerns,” chief legal officer Neal Kumar said in a statement.

“They preferred the media hit. Any time the [attorney general’s] office wants to swing by, our door is open for a conversation about how we protect consumers and offer fair, transparent and legal markets.”

Kalshi is facing similar allegations in New York State. Kalshi has been critical of reporting on lawsuits against it and allegations that it is akin to a sports betting or gambling platform.

Polymarket did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The Polymarket lawsuit comes days after reporting from the Wall Street Journal that alleged a wave of users had linked stolen bank debit cards and then used them to make wagers, effectively draining the accounts. According to the report, when CEO Shayne Coplan was made aware of the issue, he responded: “Just keep growing and pay a fine if regulators ever find out.”

New York State’s lawsuit joins a growing list of states that have sued prediction market platforms, including Arizona, Massachusetts, Nevada and many others. Those states are at odds with the federal government, as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has claimed that the federal agency exerts authority over the regulation of prediction markets.

Polymarket has close ties with the family of US President Donald Trump. The prediction market platform has investment from 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm backed by Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, who also serves on the company’s advisory board.

两个月前，该州对竞争对手 Kalshi 提起了类似的诉讼。

Polymarket 的诉讼是针对预测市场平台的一系列诉讼中的最新一起。[图片：Dado Ruvic/路透社]

纽约州已对预测市场公司 Polymarket 提起诉讼，指控其违反了该州禁止非法赌博的法律。

纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯于周四提起诉讼，此前两个月，该州曾对竞争对手Kalshi提起类似诉讼。根据当时总检察长办公室发布的消息，此前该州起诉Coinbase和Gemini，指控它们允许用户对“体育、娱乐和选举”进行投注，违反了纽约州法律。

谷歌员工因涉嫌在Polymarket进行内幕交易而被起诉，名单如下（共4人）：1.

列表 2/4：预测平台 Kalshi 将收集职位详情以打击内幕交易

（共 4 项，第 3 项）谁从对伊朗的战争中获利最多？

纽约州起诉Kalshi，称其预测市场属于“非法赌博” （共4条，此为第4条）

州政府指控所有公司均未获得州博彩委员会颁发的许可证而进行经营。

詹姆斯在宣布提起诉讼的声明中表示：“我们的赌博法旨在保护纽约人，防止问题赌博可能造成的危害，并确保教育和公共福利项目的资金。”

“Polymarket公司规避纽约州法律，专门针对最弱势群体，剥夺纽约家庭获得关键服务和支持的权利。我的办公室将毫不犹豫地采取行动，捍卫我们的法律，保障纽约市民的安全。”

诉讼还指控该公司鼓励青少年赌博。诉讼称，Polymarket的目标用户年龄低至18岁，而州法律规定参与移动体育博彩的用户必须年满21岁。

纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔在一份声明中表示：“Polymarket 经营无证赌博业务，不仅明知故犯地违反了州法律，而且还让纽约人面临风险，尤其是那些最容易受到赌博成瘾问题影响的未成年人。”

这份超过 30 页的诉讼称，估值超过 200 亿美元的 Polymarket 自 2025 年 7 月以来一直在宣传体育博彩业务。诉讼指出，该公司在 2025 年 8 月 17 日于 X 网站上发布了一篇关于其美国移动应用程序上线的帖子，称其“对体育博彩公司来说是个坏消息”。

预测市场允许用户对所谓的“事件合约”进行投注，涵盖政治事件、体育赛事、选举甚至颁奖典礼。今年早些时候，在美以首次对伊朗发动袭击前的几个小时内，有人进行了预测市场投注，引发了华盛顿的广泛反弹，人们对预测市场的作用也因此感到担忧。

Polymarket 对这些指控予以反驳。

首席法律官尼尔·库马尔在一份声明中表示：“我们选择直接与他们就实质问题进行沟通，并解决他们的担忧。”

“他们更倾向于媒体曝光。如果（司法部长）办公室想来访，我们的大门随时敞开，欢迎就如何保护消费者权益、提供公平、透明和合法的市场进行对话。”

Kalshi在纽约州也面临类似的指控。Kalshi一直对有关其诉讼和类似体育博彩或赌博平台的指控进行批评报道。

Polymarket公司没有回应半岛电视台的置评请求。

在《华尔街日报》报道一批用户将盗窃来的银行借记卡绑定到Polymarket平台，并用这些卡进行赌博，导致账户资金被盗刷数日后，Polymarket便提起了诉讼。报道称，当首席执行官谢恩·科普兰得知此事后，他的回应是：“继续扩张，如果监管机构发现了，就交罚款吧。”

纽约州的诉讼使起诉预测市场平台的州名单不断增加，其中包括亚利桑那州、马萨诸塞州、内华达州等。这些州与联邦政府存在分歧，因为商品期货交易委员会声称，该联邦机构对预测市场拥有监管权。

Polymarket与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普家族关系密切。这家预测市场平台获得了1789 Capital的投资，而1789 Capital是一家风险投资公司，由总统的长子小唐纳德·特朗普支持，小特朗普同时也是该公司顾问委员会的成员。