TLDR
- Two traders sued Polymarket in the New York Supreme Court on July 3.
- The case involves a market asking whether Strategy would sell Bitcoin before May 31.
- Strategy confirmed a 32 BTC sale in a June 1 SEC filing, one day after the market closed.
- Polymarket settled the market as “No,” and the traders say this broke the platform’s own rules.
- Polymarket is facing more than 1,150 disputed markets in 2026, already above last year’s total.
Two Polymarket users have filed a lawsuit against the prediction market platform. They say it changed the rules of a market after trading had already ended.
The traders, William Wood and Thomas Bush, filed their complaint on July 3 in the New York Supreme Court. They argue Polymarket’s handling of a Bitcoin sale market cost them a payout they had already earned.
The lawsuit names Polymarket’s chief executive, Shayne Coplan, and its chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber. Wood and Bush are asking the court to award them one dollar per share, along with damages and legal costs.
They claim Polymarket broke its agreement with users. The complaint also accuses the platform of acting in bad faith and misleading traders through its marketing.
What the Market Asked
The disputed market posed a simple question. Would Strategy sell any Bitcoin before May 31?
Strategy later confirmed in a June 1 SEC filing that it had sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31. That filing came one day after the market’s deadline.
Because the confirmation arrived late, Polymarket added a note saying it would not count toward the market’s outcome. The market was then settled as “No” following a vote from UMA, the oracle system Polymarket uses to resolve disputes.
Strategy has continued selling Bitcoin since then. The company has outlined plans for sales worth up to $1.25 billion to support dividends, and this week it reported another $216 million sold under its ongoing program.
Traders Push Back
Wood and Bush say the SEC filing was the source Polymarket’s own rules pointed to. They argue it clearly showed a sale took place within the market’s timeframe.
They claim Polymarket added a new requirement only after trading had closed. In their complaint, they wrote that a market which ignores a confirmed event “does not seek truth; it controls payout.”
Polymarket is dealing with a wave of similar disputes this year. The platform has logged more than 1,150 disputed markets in 2026, already surpassing all of 2025.
Reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have looked into this pattern. Both found that a small group of large wallets often shapes outcomes, and that some UMA voters hold positions in the markets they help settle.
The Strategy Bitcoin case fits that pattern. It is Polymarket’s biggest dispute since last year’s $237 million market tied to Ukraine’s president and his choice of clothing.
Burwick Law, the firm representing Wood and Bush, says other traders have reached out with similar complaints. Polymarket has not issued a public statement on the lawsuit.
Even with the legal pressure, Polymarket’s business has kept growing. Its U.S. arm now operates as a CFTC-registered exchange.
The platform has also drawn close to $2 billion in backing from ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Polymarket was valued at $9 billion last year, and by April it was reportedly seeking new funding at a $15 billion valuation.
