Polymarket Enlists Palantir to Police Sports Betting Amid Insider Trading Scrutiny

Polymarket Taps Palantir, TWG AI to Police Growing Sports Bets

Polymarket is enlisting firms including Palantir Technologies Inc. to help police its sports contracts as prediction markets face intense scrutiny over insider trading. A platform developed by Palantir and TWG AI will help identify, prevent and report suspicious activity, Polymarket said in a statement Tuesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. Measures include screening against existing lists of participants already banned from sports betting. The monitoring system will be used on a US-regulated venue that Polymarket is building out, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company's main trading platform is situated offshore and does not accept US-based customers. "Our partnership with Palantir and TWG AI allows us to apply world-class analytics and monitoring to sports markets," Shayne Coplan, chief executive officer of Polymarket, said in the statement. Polymarket and its main rival Kalshi have seen trading volumes explode since last year, driven in large part by sports-related contracts. But questions have arisen over how to monitor and prevent insider trading on everything from elections to geopolitics and sports. In recent years, professional sports leagues including Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have grappled with players allegedly colluding with gamblers, and critics say prediction markets are another venue where people with inside information may seek to profit. Up to now, Polymarket had been relatively quiet about how it handles insider trading and other forms of market manipulation. But the exchange has been working with IC360, a compliance company that flags unusual betting activity in sports and gaming, people familiar with the matter said. Kalshi has been more vocal. It recently brought two insider trading cases to its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It also formed a committee that will put out quarterly statistics on flagged trades, investigations and cases referred to the government. The rival prediction markets came under scrutiny in recent weeks over contracts tied to the conflict in the Middle East. Both platforms handled bets on what would happen in Iran, and after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, Kalshi moved to reimburse users' net losses and fees. Palantir was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and is best known for its work with US military and intelligence agencies. Last year, it started a joint venture with TWG Global to expand artificial intelligence across financial firms.

Polymarket taps Palantir AI to police sports betting before it's too late | Fortune

Sports fans have long loved to bet on their favorite teams, but online sports betting has turned the casual wager into a click. Legal sports betting generated $10 billion during the first three quarters of 2025, but increasingly, prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi, more so than sports betting platforms themselves, have become the platform of choice for people looking to win big. But now, sports betting platforms are under increasingly intense scrutiny after more than 30 people, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested on charges of illegal sports betting and insider trading in October. Prediction markets have seen what's happening to sports betting -- in-person and online -- and are taking matters into their own hands before sports betting can get out of hand on their own platforms. Now, Polymarket will use a software developed by Palantir and investment holding company TWG Global to monitor sports betting on its platform in the U.S., Bloomberg reported. Last year, Palantir and TWG Global started a joint venture to expand AI in financial institutions -- this new platform will screen for participants already banned from sports betting. "Our partnership with Palantir and TWG AI allows us to apply world-class analytics and monitoring to sports markets," CEO Shayne Coplan said in a statement to Bloomberg. The move is a reversal for Polymarket. In December, Coplan said that his platform can self-police insider trading by relying on users to flag suspicious activity, The Wall Street Journal reported. "The moment there is a suspected insider, it's pointed out on X, and it's visible on Polymarket immediately. So it's not like it's done in darkness," Coplan told WSJ. Polymarket has been marred with criticism recently as users have won big by betting on huge geopolitical events right before they happen. In January, one Polymarket user, who had only created their account a week before, placed a bet that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro would be out of office by the end of January. Accusations of insider trading came flooding in after the trader made more than $400,000 off the bet. In February, one Polymarket user made $553,000 on betting on the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hours before an Israeli strike killed him on Feb. 28. In recent months, several major sports leagues, including the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer, have announced partnerships with Polymarket. The Palantir system will only be deployed for U.S. users, according to Bloomberg. Most U.S. traders access Polymarket using a virtual private network (VPN) as a U.S.-based platform has not fully launched, just months after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved the platform to reenter the U.S. Several states, including Nevada, Massachusetts, and Michigan, have recently sued Polymarket and Kalshi for violating state gambling laws.

Polymarket, Peter Thiel's Palantir Eye 'Surveillance Models' for Sports Prediction Markets - Decrypt

In recent weeks, Kalshi has underscored efforts to self-police traders by publicizing two enforcement actions against traders. Polymarket signaled on Tuesday that it is planning to work with Palantir on developing systems for surveilling sports-focused prediction markets, a move aimed at bolstering its platform's integrity by enabling the data-analytics specialist to harness user data. The initiative will center on procedures like transaction monitoring and user screening, using the so-called Vergence AI engine. That tech was developed by Palantir and intelligence systems provider TWG AI through a joint venture created last year, according to a press release. Using Vergance AI, the companies say they will be able to identify potential market manipulation and insider trading nearly instantaneously. The systems are also set to screen bettors to determine whether they are restricted from participating in certain markets. By opening up its platform to Palantir and TWG AI, Polymarket is trying to prove that it's capable of self-policing traders' activity, amid growing calls from U.S. lawmakers to implement tougher rules through bills like the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act. That bill was sponsored earlier this year by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), not long after a series of suspicious bets around Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Polymarket raised eyebrows. Since then, two Israelis have been charged with using classified information to make bets about the nation's military operations on Polymarket. Palantir, recognized for its work with intelligence agencies and the U.S. military, was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel. A venture firm owned by the entrepreneur, Founders Fund, led a $45 million Series B funding round for Polymarket in 2024. Decrypt has asked Polymarket whether its efforts in sports could extend to other markets, including those related to armed conflicts, and it will update this article should we hear back. On Tuesday, the firm said that its surveillance systems will create a dedicated environment for managing and escalating cases of suspicious activity. That involves automatically generating documentations that could "support enforcement and regulatory compliance." "We are excited to be at the center of that transformation," Palantir co-founder and CEO Alex Karp said in a statement, arguing that the initiative sets a new standard. In recent weeks, rival platform Kalshi has highlighted efforts to police insiders and market manipulators, naming a former video editor for YouTube star MrBeast and a longshot political candidate in California as among its first targets. Meanwhile, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour has spotlighted Poirot, a proprietary surveillance system that he said has underpinned 200 investigations. For TWG AI, the tie-up with Polymarket is notable, considering that the firm's parent company has made investments in sports franchises like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers. Although Kalshi and Polymarket are seeing growth from sports, Kalshi is more exposed to that segment. Last week, 69% of Kalshi wagers focused on sports, compared to 40% on Polymarket, according to a Dune dashboard. Still, sports led for both.

Peter Thiel's Palantir To Monitor Polymarket's Sports Contracts For Suspicious Activity - Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig told prediction market platforms two weeks ago that exchanges are his first line of defense against insider trading. Polymarket apparently got the message. The platform is bringing in Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR) and TWG AI to monitor its sports contracts, using their new Vergence AI system. The system will flag suspicious activity, screen users against lists of individuals already banned from sports betting, and report potential violations. Palantir is best known for military and intelligence work, but last March it launched a joint venture with TWG AI parent company, TWG Global, an investment firm led by Dodgers and LA Lakers owner Mark Walter and Dark Knight producer Thomas Tull, to embed AI across financial services. Fraud detection and compliance are among the core offerings. Why Now The move comes after a difficult period for prediction market credibility. Rival Kalshi publicly disclosed two insider trading cases last month and referred both to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including a MrBeast editor who had "near-perfect trading success" on low-probability YouTube streaming markets. It also faces a class-action lawsuit after its contract on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leaving office ended in chaos. Polymarket has faced its own scrutiny all year. Over $580 million traded across both platforms on contracts tied to the Iran strikes that killed Khamenei, with senators demanding the CFTC ban death and war-related contracts entirely. Polymarket quietly deleted a nuclear detonation contract after it drew $850,000 in volume. Selig responded with an enforcement advisory. "If you attempt to engage in manipulation, fraud, or insider trading, we will find you and take action," he posted on X. The monitoring tools are designed for a U.S.-regulated venue Polymarket is building out separately from its main offshore platform, which does not accept American customers. What It Means For Palantir PLTR is trading around $154 and jumped last week as the Iran conflict fueled demand for defense stocks. Shares trade at roughly 240 times earnings. At that valuation, bulls need to see Palantir becoming the default infrastructure layer for any organization that needs rigorous data analysis. The fact that a crypto-native prediction market's first call for compliance surveillance was Palantir, not a legacy vendor, suggests that thesis may be playing out. If Polymarket can demonstrate credible integrity on sports contracts, the competitive threat to traditional sportsbooks only accelerates. Image: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Polymarket Enlists Palantir and TWG AI to Secure Sports Markets | PYMNTS.com

The firm partnered with software company Palantir Technologies and enterprise artificial intelligence company TWG AI to develop the new platform, the release said. It will have as its technical infrastructure the Vergence AI engine created last year through a joint venture between Palantir and TWG AI. Vergence AI provides end-to-end trade monitoring, anomaly detection models, prohibited trader screening, operations center enablement, and compliance reporting and documentation, per the release. "Our partnership with Palantir and TWG AI allows us to apply world-class analytics and monitoring to sports markets while building tools that can help leagues and teams maintain confidence in the games themselves," Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan said in the release. "Our goal has always been to give fans new ways to engage with the sports they love while ensuring those markets can grow responsibly on a global scale." It was reported March 7 that Polymarket and rival prediction market Kalshi are each targeting $20 billion valuations after being valued at half that figure in late 2025. At the same time, the companies are facing legislation introduced in the U.S. House that would block them from offering markets on a range of topics, including sports. PYMNTS reported in October that prediction markets are moving into professional sports, and sports betting platforms are moving into event-based contracts. Of the cases it reported to the CFTC, Kalshi said: "In both of these cases, our systems flagged the trades, and our surveillance team froze the traders' accounts. Neither trader withdrew any profits."