A Polymarket employee has acknowledged accusations that the platform effectively forfeited the winnings of traders who correctly predicted the outcome of one of its market bets.
Traders had bet on whether Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) would sell any bitcoin before the end of May 2026. Despite the company selling 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31, 2026 (as confirmed in its SEC Form 8-K filing), Polymarket resolved the bet to a “No” resolution.
The platform argues that public confirmation via the filing (released on June 1) came after the market’s May 31 deadline, and “confirmation achieved outside of the market’s time frame does not qualify.” However, the sale was also verified on-chain by online sleuths, and these terms were only disclosed after the bet was closed.
The No resolution of the Strategy bet on Polymarket, which saw roughly $80–85 million in trading volume on the May 31 outcome alone, has sparked intense backlash. Traders who bet “Yes” (the correct side based on the actual sale) have lost their winnings and their initial capital.
Strategy’s sale of the 32 BTC (for about $2.5 million) caused the bitcoin and crypto markets to crash. Polymarket has not issued a broader public statement beyond its market clarifications, and the final resolution remains pending.
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