Prediction market giant Polymarket pulled a bet on the fates of the U.S. pilots who were shot down in Iran after uproar led by a Democratic congressman who branded the company a “dystopian death market.”
One pilot from the F-15 Strike Eagle was rescued after the warplane was shot down on Friday, but the other remains missing. There had been no update from the Trump administration on the missing fighter pilot as of Saturday.
A screenshot posted Friday by Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a veteran who served in Iraq, showed that Polymarket was taking wagers on when the “U.S. confirms pilots rescued by…?”
Polymarket said it removed the bet “immediately” in response to Moulton and others who shared their outrage.
“There is an ongoing search and rescue operation for a missing American service member whose plane was shot down over Iran. Their safety is unknown,” Moulton said. “They could be your neighbor, a friend, a family member. And people are betting on whether or not they’ll be saved. This is DISGUSTING.”
“We took this market down immediately as it does not meet our integrity standards,” Polymarket said in a statement. “It should not have been posted, and we are investigating how this slipped through our internal safeguards.”
Moulton, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, pointed out that President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is an adviser to both Polymarket and Kalshi.
“Quick reminder too that @DonaldJTrumpJr is an investor in this dystopian death market,” Moulton said.
The Trump family is making moves in the prediction market space and revealed plans to launch Truth Predict on the president’s Truth Social platform.
After Polymarket’s response, the congressman followed up. “Taking down this particular bet after I called it out can only be the first step, @Polymarket. There are still 219 war bets active on your platform,” he said.
Prediction market sites allow people to place bets on the outcome of events ranging from politics and sports to TV shows and celebrity award ceremonies.
They have come under more scrutiny from lawmakers lately after they’ve experienced a surge in popularity.
Democrats Sen. Chris Murphy and Congressman Greg Casar introduced legislation last week that would ban predictions and betting on the topics of war, terrorism, assassinations, and anything that might be considered a “government action.”
The bans come after bettors made hundreds of thousands wagering on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the U.S. airstrikes on Iran just hours before they occurred, leading many to speculate that insiders were profiting off their knowledge.
One user by the name of “Magamyman” pocketed more than $500,000 after correctly guessing when the U.S. would strike Iran, and another made $123,317 after they predicted that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would no longer be in power by the end of March.
