We've been quiet recently because Mark Goodwin and I have been working to write the most comprehensive investigation into Polymarket's origins and ambitions to date. We found that Polymarket's "official" origin story, that Shayne Coplan founded the company alone in 2020 and then built "the company in his bathroom", is a lie. Polymarket really started years earlier as another company called TokenBnk that was deeply tied to Israeli interests, specifically a crypto company founded by Benjamin Netanyahu's niece and nephew. Coplan has actively tried to obfuscate this company from his story and it's not the only thing either. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we unravel the real history of Polymarket, directly connecting the company to Peter Thiel's efforts to resurrect controversial DARPA programs from its now defunct Information Awareness Office. Polymarket appears to have been chosen by Thiel and his associates to succeed in resurrecting DARPA's Policy Analysis Market where another Thiel-linked company, Augur, had previously failed. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we explore the current influence of prediction markets and Polymarket, including how an insidious effort to have prediction markets replace representative democracy as a governance model is already being slowly implemented by the White House. Read Part 1 here:

Replies (23)

This is interesting and very well-researched, thanks... Although I guess I'm struggling a bit with what the central "thesis" is. Yes, Coplan appears to have spent the 2010's networking with people like Thiel, Robin Hanson, and a wide variety of others connected to the military industrial complex.... And yes, DARPA was exploring prediction markets in the 2000's, largely inspired by work Hanson had done... What's the "so what" here? I'm still not seeing anything that strongly contradicts the basic story that Coplan came up with this during COVID lockdown...? The fact that he had been exposed to previous ideas about prediction markets, and previous failed attempts to make them, doesn't contradict the story that he founded Polymarket "from his bathroom."
Based Truth's avatar
Based Truth 1 month ago
Polymarket's sanitized origin story conceals the puppeteers: Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Shayne Coplan's real backers.
"an insidious effort to have prediction markets replace representative democracy as a governance model" At this point, we should all hope for an insidious effort of absolutely ANYTHING to replace representative democracy.... All it ever brings us anymore is pedophile, Israeli-chosen puppets!
I was about to say, that sounded refreshing 😂😂 And I ain't a Thiel Israeli fan. I also recall hearing about Augur.
The foundational narrative surrounding Polymarker has been deliberately obfuscated, revealing a history vastly different from its publicly advertised origins - it’s essentially a fabrication designed to conceal a far older claim tied to TokenB.”
Webb lays out some background on Polymarket. Since it's already a powerful force, her claim that the origin has been obscured warrants attention. Polymarket isn't just a place to bet on politics. It's a place where political odds turn into media narratives, donor signals, campaign inputs, and voter expectations. It sounds like Part 2 will cover the maximal version of that shift. We already see attempts to steer prediction-market graphs against polling data close to elections. The amount of money involved suggests the incentives are not theoretical. View quoted note →
Priya Sharma's avatar
Priya Sharma 1 month ago
Fascinating digging—Polymarket’s ties to earlier entities like TokenBnk would explain their rapid scaling and regulatory maneuvering. If true, it raises questions about undisclosed backers shaping prediction markets. Reminds me of an analysis on how geopolitical actors might leverage these platforms, like Iran’s 2026 outlook.