Polymarket reportedly fires marketing chief Matthew Modabber after internal probe

24 Oct 2026

24 Oct 2026, 02:14 UTC+02:00

Polymarket, the largest crypto based prediction market, is cleaning house as it eyes the public markets. The company has fired its chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, according to a New York Post report cited by CoinDesk. A separation agreement is reportedly being finalized.

What happened

The termination followed an internal probe into several episodes that worried investors, the Post said, citing unnamed sources. One of them was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in June: Modabber’s team allegedly built a webpage featuring videos of users making money on trades that were fake. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened an investigation into that matter, which is ongoing. No wrongdoing has been proven, and Polymarket told the Journal at the time that it was “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets.”

Modabber had been CMO since January 2024 and has been friends with CEO Shayne Coplan since high school. According to the Post, an “irate” Coplan initially threatened to fire members of the legal team pushing for the dismissal, before accepting that parting ways was best for the company. The board, which includes Coplan, investor Nick Tomaino, lawyer Alex Spiro and a Founders Fund partner, reportedly concluded that Modabber was hindering efforts to shed the company’s scrappy startup image ahead of a possible IPO. CoinDesk said it had asked Polymarket for comment.

Context

Polymarket rose to fame during the 2024 US presidential election, when its odds were widely quoted, and Coplan became the country’s youngest billionaire according to the Post. Prediction markets are now booming across the industry, with Kalshi, Robinhood and wallet apps such as Phantom competing for the same users.

What it means for traders

• Marketing is not proof: screenshots and videos of winning trades are easy to fake. Judge a platform on its rules, fees and regulation, not testimonials.
• Regulation is catching up: CFTC scrutiny of prediction market marketing is likely to increase.
• Compare carefully: our exchange comparison and testing methodology focus on verifiable data rather than promotions.

Sources

• CoinDesk: Polymarket has reportedly fired its marketing chief, also a close friend of the CEO

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news