Polymarket’s Corporate Structure Is a Mystery—Even to Some of Its Former Employees

There’s nary shortage of bonkers details astir Polymarket. The authorities alleges that some a peculiar forces worker and a longtime Google worker utilized the prediction marketplace to amass tiny fortunes by insider trading; CEO Shayne Coplan had his flat raided by FBI agents, who entered via battering ram; and 1 of its executives reportedly paid influencers done his idiosyncratic PayPal relationship to hype up the company.

But 1 of the biggest oddities astir Polymarket has remained somewhat overlooked: What’s going connected with the Panama-based institution it acceptable up to comply with a colony it made with the national government? And why, arsenic WIRED’s reporting suggests, bash immoderate employees of the Panamanian institution look to person worked from New York?

The prediction marketplace with ties to Donald Trump Jr. has an unusually convoluted setup. In 2022, national regulators said it was operating arsenic an unlicensed derivatives exchange, kicked it retired of the country, and barred it from serving US-based customers. Prior to the ban, Adventure One QSS, a firm entity successful Panama, was established, arsenic archetypal reported by Sportico. Adventure One QSS was based offshore truthful that it could instrumentality implicit operational responsibilities for Polymarket’s flagship platform. A antithetic US-based outfit, Polymarket US, was established successful 2025 and is overseen by an entity called QCX LLC. To this day, Polymarket US is the lone Polymarket level that tin legally service US customers.

Despite this structure, WIRED recovered that Adventure One QSS had unit moving retired of the US. Former Polymarket employees archer WIRED that immoderate Adventure One QSS staffers person resided successful New York, including immoderate who worked from the company’s Manhattan-based headquarters.

These employees did not question to Panama, study to anyone successful Panama, oregon interact with Panama-based colleagues—because, they say, determination were nary colleagues there. Instead, they say, the Adventure One QSS unit was dispersed retired crossed a fig of different countries, including the US.

The finer points of this operation are important. The 2022 colony fined Blockratize—a firm entity associated with Polymarket—$1.4 cardinal and ordered it to “wind down” offering markets that violated the Commodity Exchange Act. The statement besides required the institution to halt violating the CEA and different Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations. Former CFTC employees spot the determination of Adventure One’s unit arsenic applicable to the agreement. “We would person truly liked to cognize that the radical purportedly successful Panama weren’t really successful Panama,” 1 erstwhile CFTC lawyer tells WIRED.

As Sportico reported, Adventure One QSS did initially sanction Panama residents connected its incorporation papers successful 2021, including Mario Ernesto García de Paredes, a lawyer referred to arsenic the company’s “resident agent.” A pistillate named Diana Munoz was listed arsenic the institution president for 2 months earlier being replaced by Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, who is based retired of New York. Another antheral who appears to beryllium based successful Panama, Omar Camargo, was listed arsenic secretary. García de Paredes did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment, and Munoz and Camargo could not beryllium reached for clarification astir their roles. Munoz and Camargo look to person worked unneurotic before; they are listed arsenic executives successful securities filings connected to a institution called Internet Art Foundation.

WIRED’s reporting aligns with erstwhile sum from NPR, which recovered that the company’s office successful a skyscraper successful Panama City was bare and that the institution did not person Panama-based staff. In contrast, Adventure One QSS workers successful the United States person allegedly been productive and present. One erstwhile Polymarket staffer said that the workers successful New York who “touched code,” acceptable up lawsuit contracts, oregon different dealt with the offshore level were each technically moving for Adventure One QSS, “but determination was nary barrier” dividing the firm arms successful practice.