The US CFTC has launched a broad investigation into Polymarket, covering social media activity and fraudulent transactions.
Related
The CFTC has launched a full investigation into Polymarket, including allegations of wash trading that have impacted the Robinhood event contract ecosystem; Nasdaq has for the first time distributed TotalView market data on-chain via Pyth Network.
According to Mars Finance and BBX data, the prediction market faced a double whammy yesterday, with traditional exchange infrastructure accelerating its on-chain transformation. Key developments include: Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: $HOOD)'s prediction market/event contract ecosystem suffered a double regulatory blow yesterday: First, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched a full investigation into Polymarket (privately held), covering its social media activities and suspected manipulation; second, a Michigan court ruled to prohibit Kalshi (privately held) from offering sports betting services to Michigan residents. While these two events directly target Polymarket and Kalshi, their strategic importance to Robinhood cannot be ignored—Robinhood, through its subsidiary Robinhood Derivatives LLC, offers event contract products linked to KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC, making it the largest prediction market distribution channel among regulated brokers in the U.S. The CFTC's escalating investigations and enforcement actions against similar platforms will directly impact Robinhood's compliance architecture and product expansion speed; the sector's average daily trading volume in June reached a record high. Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ: $NDAQ) announced yesterday that it has selected Pyth Network (an on-chain price oracle protocol) as its on-chain distribution partner for TotalView (Nasdaq's full market depth data product). This marks the first time Nasdaq has integrated its core institutional-grade market data onto a blockchain network—TotalView provides full-level buy and sell quotes and transaction data for the entire US stock market, historically only available to traditional financial institutions (paid subscriptions). On-chain distribution means that DeFi protocols, decentralized exchanges, and smart contracts can, for the first time, access Nasdaq-level real-time equity market data as an on-chain pricing basis. The Pyth Network token (PYTH) subsequently rose by over 6%, which the market interpreted as a historic convergence of traditional securities market infrastructure and decentralized finance.
SBI Holdings' $289 million acquisition of Bitbank will create Japan's largest crypto exchage; US senators from both parties urge the CFTC to investigate Polymarket's "deceptive marketing."
According to ChainCatcher and BBX data, Japan's largest financial group completed its most significant crypto acquisition over the weekend, while US senators from both parties launched a new regulatory offensive against prediction market platforms. Key developments include: SBI Holdings, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8473) announced the acquisition of Japanese crypto exchage Bitbank (privately held) for approximately $289 million. Upon completion of the transaction, SBI's crypto business will surpass all competitors, creating Japan's largest crypto exchage. SBI Holdings is one of Japan's largest independent financial services groups, already owning crypto-friendly online bank SBI Shinsei Bank, crypto asset custody institution SBI Digital Asset Holdings, and numerous Bitcoin mining and crypto venture capital investments. Bitbank is one of Japan's largest spot BTC exchanges and holds a formal crypto exchage license from the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA). This acquisition marks a full shift in the approach of traditional Japanese financial institutions towards the crypto space, moving from "strategic testing" to "large-scale acquisition-driven" strategies. Together with the joint stablecoin plan (targeting March 2027) of the three major banks—Mitsubishi UFJ ($MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui ($SMFG), and Mizuho ($MFG)—it constitutes the most concentrated wave of crypto deployments by the Japanese financial industry in 2026. On June 28, US Senators John Curtis (Republican, Utah) and Adam Schiff (Democrat, California) jointly wrote to the CFTC, urging it to launch a formal investigation into the prediction market platform Polymarket (privately held), citing a "concerning" investigative report on Polymarket's "deceptive marketing" practices, alleging systemic misrepresentation in user acquisition and risk disclosure. This is the third time this year that Congress has launched a regulatory offensive against prediction market platforms (the House Oversight Committee previously launched an insider trading investigation on May 22); the fact that the two senators are from opposing parties carries significant implications. For Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: $HOOD), this investigation creates indirect pressure—Robinhood's prediction market/event contract business (which saw record daily trading volume in June) faces the same regulatory characterization controversy as Polymarket; however, Robinhood's advantage lies in the fact that its CFTC-designated contract market (DCM) license application is in progress, giving it a clearer compliance path than Polymarket.
A former Polymarket team member stated that the POLY token will not be launched in the short term and may require a long wait.
According to Odaily Odaily, in response to community user analysis suggesting that Polymarket might launch the POLY token in the fourth quarter of this year (or 2028), former Polymarket team member Greg responded that "the POLY token will not be launched in the short term; it may take a long time." Furthermore, Greg stated that Polymarket's early promotion of the token was purely a marketing tactic, but he has since deleted his tweet mentioning "marketing."
GF Securities: The market underestimates the potential of MediaTek's collaboration with Google; Broadcom and Qualcomm orders may be affected.
According to Mars Finance, the supply chain landscape for Google's next-generation AI chip, TPUv9 (codenamed "Triggerfish"), is undergoing a profound transformation. A recent report from GF Securities indicates that Google has chosen MediaTek, rather than Broadcom or Qualcomm, to build its ninth-generation Tensor Processor (TPU), marking a significant shift in Google's custom chip strategy. Previously, Broadcom had confirmed in its early June earnings call that Google was seeking to bring in other chip suppliers, meaning Broadcom would lose its exclusive supply position for Google's TPU-related design orders. (Cailian Press)
US lawmakers call for an investigation into Polymarket's misleading advertising practices.
PANews reported on June 26 that, according to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into the prediction market platform Polymarket, accusing it of potentially misleading advertising practices.
CNBC: Polymarket's annualized revenue surpasses $1 billion six weeks after its US exchange launch.
According to a CNBC report by Foresight News , Polymarket exclusively revealed to CNBC that its annualized revenue has well over $1 billion. This news comes six weeks after its US exchange removed its waiting list access restrictions, coinciding with a significant surge in trading volume on its international platform driven by the FIFA World Cup. According to data from Dune Analytics, Polymarket's daily trading volume on its US platform increased from approximately $50 million in mid-May to over $200 million on June 20th; its weekly trading volume on its international platform, after declining in April and May, has reached an all-time high thanks to the World Cup fever. Polymarket's US exchange launched last December, after being banned from operating in the US in 2022 for failing to register as required. Subsequently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice dropped their investigations into the company last July without filing charges. Currently, Polymarket's US platform operates as a CFTC-regulated exchange. The platform had been on a waiting list until six weeks ago when it opened to mobile users; a desktop version is still unavailable. US users must download the app by scanning a QR code on the website to trade.