Polymarket, was used by a few Taiwanese citizens during the 2020 United States Elections, experiencing record transaction volumes.
On January 13, 2024, in line with the upcoming Taiwan presidential election, Taiwanese citizens were warned not to use cryptocurrency betting platforms to gamble on the election results. This warning was made amid an ongoing investigation where many people were already being summoned for questioning.
Within the community, a large number of people were summoned for investigation by prosecutors for participating in Polymarket bets.
However, it is known that participating in gambling activities related to the election in Taiwan is against the law. These transactions violate clause 88-1 of the Election and Recall Act.
The penalty for this violation is said to be; six months in prison, detention or 100,000 New Taiwan Dollar ($3,188).
Looking back, in 2022, Polymarket faced regulatory challenges in the United States. The New York-based CFTC initiated a legal action against the platform in January 2022. The CFTC claimed that the platform had been operating an “illegal, unregistered or unspecified facility” since June 2020.
However, significant transactions were observed on the Polymarket platform during the 2020 US elections. It was noted that a volume was formed that did not happen in normal times. Ultimately, over $10 million in new volume was created, breaking records.