Following significant backlash from a federal representative, the online betting service Polymarket has ceased accepting wagers regarding the potential rescue of U.S. warplane crew members who were shot down in Iran. The platform has committed to reviewing how this particular betting market was established.
The criticism originated from Seth Moulton, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, who is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps with two Bronze Star medals earned during his service in Iraq from 2003 to 2008. Moulton expressed his disapproval through a post on X, labeling Polymarket’s acceptance of bets on the fates of the downed pilots as “DISGUSTING.”
Prior to Moulton’s comments, Iranian military forces had shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle jet on Friday, which was carrying two U.S. Air Force members involved in the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Israel against Iran that began in late February.
The pilot of the aircraft was successfully rescued within seven hours, and Donald Trump announced the recovery of the other crew member shortly after midnight on Sunday via his Truth Social account.
For a brief period, Polymarket allowed users to place bets on when these rescues would occur, with many predicting a resolution by Saturday.
Moulton was outraged to discover that the platform was facilitating such betting while rescue operations were actively underway. He remarked on X, “Their safety is unknown… And people are betting on whether or not they’ll be saved. This is DISGUSTING.”
In response, Polymarket acknowledged Moulton’s concerns and 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.”
However, Moulton was not satisfied and pointed out in another post that Polymarket continued to host numerous other war-related bets that should also be removed, criticizing the company’s integrity standards as “severely lacking.” He also mentioned that Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, is an investor in Polymarket, which he denounced as a “dystopian death market.”
Moulton concluded by stating that removing this specific bet was merely the first step in addressing the issue.
Polymarket did not provide an immediate response to further inquiries regarding Moulton’s criticism or the specifics of their promised investigation.
This incident follows previous controversies where Polymarket users made headlines in March by sending threatening messages to an Israeli journalist, linked to a bet concerning his reporting on a missile strike near Jerusalem amid the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Platforms like Polymarket, which enable users to place bets on a wide array of topics from wars and elections to entertainment awards and sports, have come under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers as their user base expands rapidly.
In March, congressional representatives introduced a proposal aimed at prohibiting prediction markets from accepting bets related to sports or casino-style games. Another similar proposal sought to ban betting on government actions, warfare, and events that could be susceptible to manipulation.
Regarding the latter measure, Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator 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.”
