Prediction market Polymarket has said it is ready to police trading on its platform, especially as the U.S. midterm elections draw closer.

 

Confirming its preparedness for the midterm elections, Shana Bautista, Polymarket's global head of investigations and intelligence, told Reuters that the platform is not only ready to surveil midterm trading but is also working to abide by the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) of keeping U.S. users off its international platform.

 

"I'm confident that I'm able to get the resources and the support I need," Bautista told Reuters. "I can tell you that we have the systems in place to be able to identify anomalous activity when the midterms do come."

 

By reiterating its preparedness for midterm trading, Bautista helps dispel concerns several U.S. lawmakers have long had about the role prediction markets play in insider trading, which they say threatens national security and undermines election integrity.

 

As part of its surveillance strategy for midterm trading, Polymarket will launch a new web page explaining how it protects market integrity and cooperates with law enforcement.

 

According to Bautista, this webpage outlines how Polymarket uses machine learning, blockchain analytics, trade surveillance, open source research, and third parties to spot malicious trading and insider activity on the platform. 

 

Although this program being integrated is not entirely new, Bautista said Polymarket will provide an in-depth explanation of how it works.

 

Efforts to Curb Insider Trading

 

Polymarket has consistently implemented several measures to curb insider trading and other malicious activities on its platform. Among these measures is its partnership with security firm Chainalysis and Palantir Technologies to implement several multilayered surveillance systems on its platform.

 

It has also actively worked with law enforcement to prosecute traders involved in malicious trading activities. Notable among these was its work with law enforcement in April this year to prosecute Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who was charged with using classified, nonpublic military information to trade on the platform.