Shayne Coplan

Person

The CEO of the prediction market platform Polymarket, whose home was raided by the FBI following the 2024 election.


entitydetail.created_at

8/20/2025, 2:14:01 AM

entitydetail.last_updated

8/20/2025, 2:14:49 AM

entitydetail.research_retrieved

8/20/2025, 2:14:49 AM

Summary

Shayne Coplan, born in 1998, is an American entrepreneur and technologist widely recognized as the founder and CEO of Polymarket, a prediction market platform that utilizes smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain. His company gained significant attention for accurately predicting the 2024 presidential election outcome. Coplan became the subject of an FBI raid on his home in November 2024, an event that was discussed on the All-In Podcast, highlighting the ongoing regulatory scrutiny faced by prediction markets and the broader cryptocurrency industry.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Born

    1998

  • Gender

    Male

  • Education

    The Beacon School (High School)

  • Occupation

    Technologist

  • Nationality

    American

  • Place of Birth

    New York City, New York, United States

Timeline
  • Shayne Coplan was born. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikidata)

    1998

  • Participated in the initial coin offering (ICO) of Ethereum, acquiring cryptocurrency at a low price. (Source: Web Search (Wikipedia))

    2014

  • Founded Polymarket, a prediction market platform. (Source: Web Search (Wikipedia, LinkedIn))

    2020

  • Polymarket was fined US$1.4 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and received a cease and desist order for regulatory violations, including failure to register as a Swap Execution Facility. (Source: Web Search (Polymarket Wikipedia))

    2022-01

  • The FBI raided Shayne Coplan's home and seized his phone, as part of an investigation into Polymarket for allegedly allowing U.S.-based gamblers to make bets. (Source: Related Documents, Web Search (Polymarket Wikipedia, Decrypt))

    2024-11-13

  • The Swiss Gambling Supervisory Authority blocklisted Polymarket.com due to controversial aspects of prediction markets violating gambling regulations. (Source: Web Search (Polymarket Wikipedia))

    2024-11-26

Shayne Coplan

Shayne Coplan (born 1998) is an American entrepreneur, technologist, and the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Polymarket, a prediction market.

Web Search Results
  • Shayne Coplan - Wikipedia

    Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia ## Contents # Shayne Coplan Shayne Coplan (born 1998) is an American entrepreneur, technologist, and the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Polymarket, a prediction market. ## Early life and education [...] Shayne Coplan was born in 1998 and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City. He attended public schools in Hell's Kitchen. Coplan studied computer science at New York University but left before completing his degree to pursue interests in cryptocurrencies and prediction markets. ## Career [...] In 2014, Coplan participated in the initial coin offering of Ethereum and acquired the cryptocurrency when it was priced significantly lower than its later value. Inspired by economist Friedrich Hayek’s theories on decentralized information systems and George Mason University professor Robin Hanson’s work on Futarchy, Coplan founded Polymarket in 2020, which operates as a prediction market using smart contracts on the Polygon "Polygon (blockchain)") blockchain for settling wagers. Coplan’s

  • Decrypt's 2024 Person of the Year: Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan

    Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan was the target of a law enforcement raid Wednesday, the company confirmed to Decrypt, describing him as the victim of "political retribution" after his phone and electronics were seized. The spokesperson claimed that Coplan is being targeted after Polymarket “​​correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” after bettors on the crypto prediction market platform correctly picked a White House victory for Republican Donald Trump. The seizures, conducted Wednesday [...] Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Your Email Get it! Get it! Partner News Deep Dives University Coins Videos Event Calendar Podcasts News Explorer Bitcoin Halving About Team Disclosures Manifesto Terms of Service Code of Conduct 1000x Member Terms of Service Privacy Policy Contact Careers Jobs SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER The latest news, articles, and resources, sent to your inbox weekly. [...] Certainly, the future looks brighter. With an incoming administration that’s likely to clarify regulations that pertain to crypto and prediction markets, Polymarket’s founder is upbeat. “The incoming administration looked heavily at Polymarket forecasts throughout the election cycle, which is incredible news,” he said. “The first step is understanding why these markets are so valuable, which has been accomplished. The natural next step is to embrace it.” ### Daily Debrief Newsletter

  • Meet The 26-Year-Old Building A Billion Dollar Prediction Marketplace

    Polymarket’s 26-year-old founder, Shayne Coplan, won’t say much about his team’s efforts to prevent U.S.-based users from betting on elections. He prefers to emphasize his platform’s strengths. [...] Despite the lack of revenues, and some nagging questions concerning the source of Polymarket’s trading volume, young Coplan is the darling of Silicon Valley. He is “dynamic, brilliant,” gushed billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper in a written comment to Forbes. “Using the word ‘tenacious’ to describe entrepreneurs feels overdone, but for Shayne, it is 100% true,” adds Tom Schmidt, general partner at crypto-focused venture firm Dragonfly. “It takes true grit, passion, and vision to spend as [...] ByNina Bambysheva # Meet The 26-Year-Old Building A Billion Dollar Prediction Marketplace Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket ## Will Taylor Swift get engaged in 2024? Will JD Vance be replaced as veep nominee? Despite its questionable legality, hundreds of millions in crypto are being wagered on events like these on Polymarket. #### By Nina Bambysheva, Forbes Staff

  • Polymarket - Wikipedia

    PolymarketImage 4 IndustryEvent-based "Event (probability theory)") trading GenrePrediction market platform using Polygon "Polygon (blockchain)") Founded 2020; 5 years ago(2020) FounderShayne Coplan Headquarters 1280 Lexington Avenue New York, NY "New York (state)") 10028 U.S( Key people Shayne Coplan (CEO) Websitepolymarket.com [...] Founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan,( Polymarket is a prediction market that allows users to gain/lose on the outcome of world events.( In January 2022, Polymarket was fined US$1.4 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and received a cease and desist order for regulatory violations, including failure to register as a Swap Execution Facility.( According to the CFTC, Polymarket offered "substantial cooperation" throughout the investigation, which resulted in the company [...] Legal issues ------------ [edit] On November 13, 2024, the FBI raided Coplan's home and seized his phone. According to _Bloomberg News_, the Department of Justice is investigating Polymarket for allegedly allowing U.S.-based gamblers to make bets on the website.( On November 26, 2024, the Swiss Gambling Supervisory Authority blocklisted Polymarket.com due to the controversial aspects of prediction markets in violation of the regulation on gambling and sports betting.(

  • Shayne Coplan - Polymarket | LinkedIn

    # Shayne Coplan CEO @ Polymarket New York, US 500 connections, 2723 followers ## About None ## Experience ### Founder & CEO Polymarket March 2020 - Present None Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market; harnessing the power of free markets to demystify the real world events that matter most to you. ### Intern Chronicled June 2016 - August 2016 San Francisco Bay Area Shadowed the CPO and helped decide how the product would interact with the Ethereum blockchain [...] ### Intern Genius (fka Rapgenius) April 2015 - July 2015 Gowanus, Brooklyn I worked specifically on Genius's collaboration with Spotify: "Behind The Lyrics". ## Education ### New York University Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Computer Science None - None None ### The Beacon School High SchoolNone None - None None ## Publications N/A ## Honors & Awards N/A ## Certifications N/A ## Volunteering N/A ## Languages Spanish ## Organizations N/A ## Activity N/A [...] ## People Also Viewed N/A