The team behind the P2P.me decentralized trading platform disclosed that it opened positions on the Polymarket prediction market related to its recent capital raise. The positions were opened 10 days before the raise went live, wagering whether the project would hit a $6 million fundraising target, the team said in a disclosure posted on X.
When the positions were opened, P2P.me said it had only one “oral commitment” from venture firm Multicoin Capital for $3 million, “no signed term sheets” and “no guaranteed allocations.” The funding round ultimately closed at $5.2 million, so the Polymarket market resolved to “no.”
After the outcome, P2P.me acknowledged the optics and disclosed the trades, saying: “Trading on an outcome you can influence erodes trust. We don’t believe we were trading on a done deal, but we recognize reasonable people can see it differently. We named the account ‘P2P Team’ deliberately to give a marketing signal of our presence. But intent isn’t the same as action. Not disclosing at the time was a mistake we own.”
The team said any profits from the Polymarket positions will be returned to the project’s MetaDAO treasury. It also said it is liquidating all open positions on Polymarket and will adopt a formal company policy governing prediction market trading activity.
Cointelegraph reached out to P2P.me about the disclosure but did not receive a response by publication.
Prediction markets have faced increased scrutiny over insider trading, prompting platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi to implement countermeasures. U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation to curb insider trading on prediction markets, including the bipartisan PREDICT Act introduced by Representatives Adrian Smith and Nikki Budzinski, which would bar the president and members of Congress from participating in prediction markets. A competing bill aiming to restrict political insider trading has also been introduced.