A Wall Street Journal investigation has revealed that Polymarket, the crypto prediction market that became a cultural phenomenon during the 2024 US election cycle, paid social media creators to fabricate betting wins and promote them as genuine. The scheme involved fake websites, staged celebrations, and a coordinated effort to keep the whole arrangement under wraps.

The anatomy of a fake win

The most prominent case centers on creator George Makihara, who claimed in January 2026 that he had won $100,000 betting on Polymarket that President Donald Trump would say “McDonald’s.” The video went viral. The problem: the bet never happened.

Trump didn’t even mention McDonald’s that month, meaning more than 50 genuine Polymarket accounts that placed real bets on the same market actually lost money.

The Journal’s investigation dug into 1,105 videos produced by ten creators since December 2025. The findings were damning: approximately 70% of those videos showcased bets totaling nearly $1.9 million that were entirely made up. Creators filmed themselves celebrating fabricated winnings of around $900,000, using counterfeit versions of the Polymarket interface to sell the illusion.

Meanwhile, the actual trading activity by these same creators told a very different story. Their real bets on the platform resulted in losses exceeding $166,000.

The marketing machine behind the curtain

Polymarket worked with a marketing firm called Virality to build and manage the creator network. Each creator received between $2,000 and $3,000 per month, with explicit instructions to keep the paid relationship confidential.

Across various social media platforms, this content reportedly amassed over 140 million views. The target audience was primarily US-based users, which introduces a separate layer of complexity. Polymarket operates as an offshore betting platform, and advertising gambling services to US residents raises its own set of legal and ethical questions, even before you get to the part where the ads were fabricated.

Following the Journal’s reporting, Polymarket announced plans to audit its promotional strategies. The company said it intends to regain user trust and ensure compliance with advertising standards going forward.

What this means for prediction markets and crypto investors

Polymarket had been riding high. The platform became the go-to reference point for real-time election odds during the 2024 US presidential race, earning mentions from mainstream media outlets and even drawing comparisons to traditional polling.

For existing users, the immediate question is straightforward: if you started trading on Polymarket because you saw someone on social media making it look easy, you were likely influenced by content that was literally fabricated. The losses exceeding $166,000 among the creators’ real accounts suggest the platform isn’t the effortless money printer that viral content made it appear to be.

The FTC already requires disclosure of paid partnerships, and the crypto space has seen enforcement actions around undisclosed promotions before. If creators were explicitly told to hide their compensation, that’s potentially a violation of existing advertising law.

The 140 million views figure is perhaps the most telling data point in this entire story. It shows just how effectively misleading content can propagate through social media, and how difficult it is for users to distinguish genuine results from manufactured ones.