Polymarket insider trading claims tied to Bloomberg’s investigation have drawn a rebuttal from Car, who argued that the report confused well-timed trades with misconduct.
Car said Bloomberg misread on-chain data, overstated suspicious activity, and relied too heavily on wallet flags.
Bloomberg cited Polysights data that marked $45 million in Trump-related volume as suspicious and classified 34,225 wallets as possible insiders.
Car said algorithmic labels were not evidence. “Do Bloomberg journalists think someone can have insider information about Argentina winning the World Cup?” Car wrote on X.
Car disputes Bloomberg wallet analysis
Car questioned the $1.5 million figure. He said Polymarket’s position leaderboard showed the top winner on the contract earned $1.1 million, while Bloomberg’s cited wallet did not appear at that level. Car said the account won “a couple hundred thousand,” not the amount stated.
Car said the wallet had a history of large election and sports wagers, which did not indicate classified intelligence. “Even the most credible newspapers are extremely bad at covering supposed insiders or suspicious wallets on Polymarket,” he wrote, adding, “I know from experience insider trading on Polymarket is not a thing on the scale the media makes it seem.”
Prediction market scrutiny grows
Prediction markets face scrutiny over integrity risks. In January 2026, a Polymarket account bet $32,000 that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro would be removed from power hours before U.S. forces seized him. The account made over $430,000.
A month later, Israeli authorities charged two people with using classified information to bet on Polymarket before strikes on Iran. Bubblemaps also found six accounts that won $1 million after betting on the exact date of the February 28 strikes. The accounts were funded within 24 hours. Over $529 million traded on Iran strike contracts.
Polymarket updated its integrity rules in March 2026. It now bars trades based on confidential information, breaching a duty of trust, insider tips, or outcomes a trader can influence. Neal Kumar, Polymarket’s chief legal officer, said the rules “make our expectations abundantly clear for every participant across both platforms.”
Car says large wagers are misread
Congressman Ritchie Torres introduced the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026 in January. The bill would bar people with access to material non-public government information from trading on prediction markets. It has over 40 Democratic co-sponsors.
Car’s rebuttal coincides with questions about profitability. Research by analyst Andrey Sergeenkov in April 2026 found that 84.1% of Polymarket traders lost money. Only 2% of 2.5 million wallets cleared $1,000, and 35 traders earned an average U.S. monthly salary for 12 straight months.
Car acknowledged that one or two genuine insider cases may exist. However, he argued that treating well-timed, high-conviction wagers as insider trading distorts how experienced traders operate.
