The FBI searched his house Polymarket chief executive Shayne Coplan as part of an investigation into the crypto betting platform.

Federal law enforcement agents seized the 26-year-old CEO’s phone and computers from his downtown New York home on Wednesday, in what the company says is retaliation for its users betting overwhelmingly in favor of to Donald Trump in the recent US presidential election.

“It’s disheartening that the current administration would seek a last-minute effort to go after companies it sees as associated with political opponents,” Mr. Coplan said. wrote on X.

“We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but incumbents should do some self-reflection and recognize that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what changed their fortunes in this election. .”

The US Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Polymarket for allegedly allowing US users to bet on the site. Polymarket declined to comment on the allegations, but a spokesman said the FBI raid was “obvious political retaliation by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a marketplace that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.”

The company said Mr. Coplan was not arrested or taken into custody. The FBI declined to comment. The Justice Department and the White House did not respond to requests for comment on the raid.

In the run-up to the presidential election, the site gained widespread attention for the way it placed Trump’s chances far ahead of Harris’s, when opinion polls had shown the race in a heat for months.

Polymarket, which does not allow trading in the US, also gained control after a mysterious French trader known as the Polymarket whale made big bets on Trump winning the election.

The unknown gambler walked away with more than $46 million after betting more than $50 million on Trump winning the election.

Some feared that the big bets artificially inflated Trump’s chances of winning on the platform, which regulators have warned that it could pose a threat to electoral integrity.

Additional reporting from agencies