POLYMARKET’S CARD PROCESSOR FLAGGED MORE THAN 80% OF ITS U.S. DEPOSITS AS FRAUD — THE NORM IS ABOUT 1% — THE WSJ SAYS THE CEO’S ANSWER WAS GROW NOW, WORRY ABOUT FINES LATER

The Wall Street Journal reported on September 20 that fraudsters hit Polymarket’s U.S. app in February 2026, a couple of months after it opened to waitlist users in December 2025. They linked stolen debit cards, deposited, bet, and tried to withdraw the winnings, trying to route at least $10 million through the platform. At one point, The Block reports, payment processor Checkout.com was rejecting more than 80% of the Polymarket U.S. deposits it handled as fraud, against an industry norm of roughly 1%.

When compliance staff raised it, the Journal reports, CEO Shayne Coplan’s response was to focus on growth now and worry about any regulatory fines later. The Journal also reports the CFTC is investigating Polymarket; a CFTC spokesperson told The Block the agency could neither confirm nor deny an investigation. Polymarket’s statement: “Our market integrity framework includes processes to detect, review and respond to suspicious activity.”

A fine you plan for is a price. If the growth is worth more than the fine, the fine is a cost of doing business, and a regulator that only fines is selling a permission slip. The CFTC now has a test case on its desk, and the test is simple: whether the bill is big enough to change the math. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $.