Polymarket's Corporate Structure: Panama Entity Staff Work from New York
According to a Wired investigation, Polymarket's Panama-registered subsidiary Adventure One QSS actually employs staff in the US, including New York, potentially contradicting its 2022 settlement with the CFTC.
The prediction market Polymarket, tied to Donald Trump Jr., has an unusually complicated corporate structure. After a 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) forced it to cease operations in the US, the company set up a Panamanian entity, Adventure One QSS, to take over the international platform. However, Wired's investigation reveals that this company's employees actually work from New York, not Panama. Former employees report that the Adventure One QSS team was spread across several countries, including the US, with no one required to travel to Panama or report to Panama-based colleagues—because there were none there.
This finding is significant given the 2022 settlement, which required Polymarket to wind down its US operations and move offshore. Former CFTC lawyers say the agency would have wanted to know that the Panamanian entity's staff were actually in the US. Wired's reporting aligns with earlier NPR findings that Polymarket's Panama City skyscraper office was empty and the company had no staff in Panama.
The CFTC has declined to comment on whether Adventure One QSS's setup complies with the settlement. Polymarket also declined to comment. The agency has not accused Adventure One QSS of any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, financial regulation experts describe the arrangement as odd, even if legal.
In July 2025, the CFTC dropped an investigation into Polymarket without charges, following a policy shift. However, a recent Wall Street Journal expose on deceptive marketing practices has sparked calls for a federal probe. Sources confirm to Wired that the CFTC investigation is ongoing and focused on alleged misleading marketing activities.
