Polymarket CMO sent $2.5 million via personal PayPal account

An investigation by Politico has uncovered a striking payment practice at Polymarket. The prediction platform’s chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, sent more than $2.5 million to over 800 recipients via a personal PayPal account between January 2025 and February 2026. At least $350.000 of that went to content creators, who subsequently posted about Polymarket hundreds of times without clearly indicating that it was paid promotion.

Influencers post nearly 500 times without sponsor disclosure

Politico’s analysis shows that twenty influencers collectively posted about Polymarket on X more than 490 times without informing their followers about their financial relationship with the platform. Modabber used a PayPal account registered with the email address of a salad bar he co-founded, which likely means the total of $2.5 million is an underestimate.

Politico verified the identities of roughly two dozen content creators who received payments from Modabber, using public records and social media. The findings raise questions about transparency, tax reporting and the use of a private account for what appears to be business spending.

Polymarket gives limited response to policy questions

In a statement, Polymarket said that influencer collaborations are common industry practice. However, the platform did not address specific questions about the lack of sponsor disclosures, why payments went through a personal account, or how tax obligations around these payments have been handled.

The case casts doubt on how prediction platforms organise their marketing activities and whether users know when content about such platforms is paid for. Polymarket is one of the best-known names in the world of prediction markets and attracts significant attention due to the popularity of political and social forecasting. Politico’s investigation can be read on the outlet’s website.

More details on the findings are available in the full Politico investigation.