P2P.me, cryptocurrency payment platform, faces questions about the $20,000 Polymarket bet related to its own fundraising campaign, after the company stated it had traded on the results before the round was opened to the public.

On March 27, P2P.me announced it had liquidated its Polymarket betting position regarding its ability to meet its $6 million fundraising target. The company stated it had placed bets 10 days before officially opening the funding round.

Big Polymarket win sparks insider trading discussion

P2P.me admitted that at the time of placing the bets, it already had a verbal commitment of 3 million dollars from the venture capital firm Multicoin.

Some lawyers estimate that this verbal commitment of 3 million dollars could be material non-public information, although P2P.me noted that no documents had been signed, so the outcome was still uncertain.

P2P.me also defended itself and described the bet as a “statement of trust.”

“We intentionally named the account ‘P2P Team’ – the purpose was to send a marketing signal to the community of our presence and demonstrate a genuine desire for transparency. However, intention is not the same as action. The failure to disclose information in a timely manner was a mistake we acknowledge. We took time to assess the legal consequences before making a statement, which is why we have remained silent until now and responded ‘No comment’ – that too can be criticized, which is fair,” they stated.

Ultimately, P2P.me raised 5.2 million dollars from external investors, which allowed the company to close its Polymarket position at 35,212 dollars. The trade yielded a profit of about 14,700 dollars from the original 20,500 dollar investment.

After the setback, some investors and industry experts felt that the situation was exaggerated. They viewed the trade as more a result of inexperience than malice.

Simon Dedic, co-founder of Moonrock Capital and investor in P2P.me, defended the team's character and motives. According to him, the trade was a poorly thought-out “guerrilla marketing stunt” intended to show faith in the project.

“No sensible person would risk a 6 million dollar fundraising over a 15,000 dollar issue. The idea was to show such strong faith in the sale that the team was willing to bet on their own success. For this reason, they intentionally named the account ‘P2P team’. Otherwise, one could argue that they are the world's most incompetent insider traders,” Dedic added.

As criticism grew right before the planned initial coin offering, P2P.me announced it would direct the funds obtained from trading to the MetaDAO's treasury. The company clarified that MetaDAO was not aware of the trading in advance.

This case coincides with a time when prediction markets are growing rapidly. Blockchain platform TRM Labs reported that industry transaction volumes have increased from 1.2 billion dollars in early 2025 to over 20 billion dollars by January 2026.

Due to this rapid growth, regulatory concerns regarding decentralized prediction markets have increased. Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have tightened their oversight measures to curb insider trading.