US Congressman Condemns Polymarket Over Betting on Downed Pilots
Following intense criticism from a federal lawmaker, the online betting platform Polymarket ceased accepting wagers on the rescue timing of US warplane crew members shot down by Iranian forces. The company also pledged to investigate how such a market was permitted to appear.
The criticism originated from Seth Moulton, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts and former United States Marine Corps officer who earned two bronze star medals during his service in Iraq from 2003 to 2008. Moulton expressed his disapproval on the social media platform X, describing Polymarket’s acceptance of bets on the fate of the downed pilots as
"DISGUSTING".
Incident Details: F-15E Strike Eagle Downed by Iranian Forces
On Friday, Iranian military forces shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle jet occupied by two US Air Force members engaged in the ongoing conflict involving the US and Israel against Iran, which has escalated since late February. The pilot was rescued within seven hours, a fact announced by former President Donald Trump just after midnight on Sunday via a post on his Truth Social platform.
During the period following the incident, Polymarket allowed users to place bets on when the rescue of the crew members would occur, with the majority of wagers predicting a rescue by Saturday.
Moulton’s Response and Polymarket’s Reaction
Representative Moulton strongly opposed the platform’s decision to permit such bets while search and rescue operations were ongoing. He stated on X:
"Their safety is unknown… And people are betting on whether or not they’ll be saved. This is DISGUSTING."
In response, Polymarket’s official X account stated:
"We took this market down immediately as it does not meet our integrity standards. It should not have been posted, and we are investigating how this slipped through our internal safeguards."
Moulton further criticized Polymarket for continuing to accept hundreds of other war-related wagers that he believes should also be deactivated, asserting that the company’s
"integrity standards are severely lacking". During the exchange, Moulton mentioned that Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the former president and namesake, is an investor in Polymarket, referring to the platform as a
"dystopian death market".
He added:
"Taking down this particular bet after I called it out can only be the first step."
Polymarket has not immediately provided further comment regarding Moulton’s condemnation or details about the investigation it committed to conducting.
Broader Context: Congressional Scrutiny of Prediction Markets
Platforms like Polymarket, which enable users to place bets on a wide range of topics including war, elections, entertainment awards, and sports, have increasingly attracted congressional attention due to their rapidly growing user bases.
In March, congressional lawmakers introduced a proposal to prohibit prediction markets from accepting bets related to sports or casino-style games. A separate but related proposal introduced the same month aims to ban prediction markets on government actions, war, and
"events ripe for rigging".
Regarding the latter proposal, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, stated:
"When events that involve good and evil, life and death become just another financial product, morality no longer matters and the soul of America is fundamentally corrupted."
