With the U.S presidential election just one week away, it seems that Trump is having a crushing lead against his democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, on Polymarket.
In recent weeks leading to the 2024 US Election, Trump's odds of winning has suddenly spiked and increased to 66.1% on Polymarket, while his rival, the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, saw her chance drop to 33.9%.
But it seems that the reason for Trumps' lead is driven by a mysterious whale, who has invested more than $45 million on Trump winning the election.
Many now are asking who this mysterious whale is and why is he doing this?
French whale who is betting on four accounts
Polymarket has revealed to the New York Times that this mysterious whale is a French national with extensive trading experience and a financial services background.
It was also revealed that this mysterious whale has created four accounts on the platform, and the total bet from these 4 accounts accumulates to a whopping $45 million in total on a Trump victory. The names of the four accounts are Fredi9999, Theo4, Princess Caro, and Michie.
All four accounts have received large deposits from the crypto exchange Kraken, usually in transactions worth $500,000 or $1 million, and they immediately start betting on trump, paying no attention to other services on Polymarket.
The Fredi9999, for example, bolstered the Trump's odds significantly after buying $20 million worth of "Yes" shares on 18 Oct.
Moreover, Fredi's transaction patterns suggest that it controls four of the six largest Trump-voting accounts on Polymarket, all funded with Kraken deposits.
Polymarket's statement on the controversy
Amid this controversy over its election bets and the French whale, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan said in a post on X that the company is a non-partisan and transparent. He added that Polymarket was never meant to be centered on election betting.
Coplan wrote
"Polymarket is not about politics. The vision was never to be a political website, and it still isn't."
The upcoming election seems to have created a sparked interest in prediction markets, with its betting volume on prediction markets skyrocketing to over 565.4% in the third quarter to reach $3.1 billion across the three largest market, up from just $463.3 million in the second year.
CoinGecko has attributed This significant third-quarter growth to the US elections.