Far-right influencer Nick Shirley featured a gray hoodie with the Polymarket logo in a viral January video accusing fraud at Minnesota daycares, visible to his 1.6 million X followers.

Polymarket logos appeared in other Shirley content too, including December man-on-the-street interviews about the current state of America.

The initial post followed Shirley receiving funds from Polymarket chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber. The later one came after he collected a total of $3,100 from Modabber, based on records examined by POLITICO.

Modabber, who once stated that growth comes from a product people cannot stop discussing, backed his words with action. The Polymarket executive transferred at least $350,000 via personal PayPal to Shirley and other creators from January 2025 to February 2026, transaction analysis reveals.

That figure likely understates the total. Modabber routed over $2.5 million through his personal PayPal account, tied to an email for a salad business he helped start, to more than 800 recipients in that period. POLITICO confirmed roughly two dozen creators identities using public records and social media review.

At least 20 of those creators promoted Polymarket on social media after payments began, posting about the platform at least 490 times on X without clear paid-partnership disclosures. The records and post analysis point to a quiet effort to build political buzz around the controversial prediction market.

Recipients included conservative influencer Alex LoRusso, progressive commentator Brian Krassenstein, and Riley Gaines, the swimmer turned Fox News contributor known for opposing trans women in female sports.

The PayPal records reached POLITICO through a source granted anonymity over retaliation concerns.

A Polymarket spokesperson described the influencer partnerships as routine business practice, noting collaboration with diverse creators across the spectrum to deliver accurate market insights.

The spokesperson did not address questions about disclosure policies, use of a personal account, or IRS reporting of the payments.

Modabber offered no response to inquiries.

Under 28-year-old CEO Shayne Coplan, Polymarket has operated mainly outside the US after regulators banned it in 2022 for unlicensed activity. Trading volumes surged after Donald Trumps 2024 reelection, bringing prediction markets into wider view.

The Trump administration faces calls to curb platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi over insider-trading worries. Yet the president, whose son invested in Polymarket and advises Kalshi, has largely avoided intervention. Investigations into the company ended last summer, paving the way for a potential US return via a regulated exchange. Trump recently criticized state regulators and stressed federal oversight so the firms can thrive.

While policy debates continue, Polymarket uses influencers large followings to become a familiar brand. On X, creators highlight the platforms accuracy on events such as the 2025 New York City mayoral race or government shutdown timing, without noting the funding behind their posts. Many present Polymarket as an authoritative source, leaving viewers unaware of the sponsorship.

Renée DiResta, author of Invisible Rulers and a Georgetown professor studying digital influence, noted that audiences rarely consider whether an influencer profits from each post.

The FTC requires influencers to disclose material connections to endorsed products, though the agency did not clarify application to prediction-market posts.

None of the X posts in the 14-month record period carried paid-promotion disclosures, POLITICO determined. X introduced labeling tools on March 1, but an X spokesperson said clear labels like ad or sponsored were always mandatory for commercial content.

Former FTC deputy general counsel Robin Moore said such arrangements generally require disclosure.

Kalshi has also worked with online creators, highlighting social medias role in growth strategies. It hired a crypto influencer for digital assets and partnered with others to reach sports fans and women.

One paid influencer, granted anonymity, said Polymarket and Kalshi essentially controlled major creators at one point.

The creator, with hundreds of thousands of X followers, received thousands of dollars from Polymarket for posts since 2024.

Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana declined comment.

Cannot be faked

In May 2024, Shane Ginsberg asked Atlanta passersby Trump or Biden? All four people in the video on his @shaneyyricch Instagram account favored Trump.

The street interviews went beyond election views.

Ginsberg told one interviewee he bet $5,000 on Trump and asked if the man felt confident enough to wager, while a Polymarket image appeared on screen. He then directed the man to Polymarket.com as the only site for betting on news and elections.

Ginsberg was 19, voting in his first presidential election, and had begun collaborating with Polymarket to build brand awareness, per his website.

He launched Street Poller, a social media marketing firm that produces unscripted street interviews and amplifies them via a network of over 50 creators, as described in a Polymarket case study on the site.

In some videos the interviewers never mentioned Polymarket and simply wore logo T-shirts.

The timing aligned well. Polymarket paid influencers nationwide to promote election betting ahead of the presidential contest. US users remained barred from the platform under the 2022 settlement, yet the creators seldom noted that restriction.

Ginsberg, who received at least $77,000 from Modabber, did not reply to comment requests.

Regarding Modabbers personal PayPal use for business activity, a PayPal spokesperson pointed to its user agreement limiting personal accounts to family or household purposes and warning that commercial use may require conversion to a business account or closure.

Leading into the election, over $1.5 billion traded on Polymarket for a Trump win and more than $1 billion on Harris. Monthly volumes jumped nearly 400 percent from September to October 2024, per Dune Analytics.

The second Trump term suggested a lighter regulatory touch after Biden-era scrutiny. The Justice Department and CFTC had probed whether Polymarket still accepted US bets in violation of the settlement. Shortly after the election, FBI agents searched the CEOs New York home, which he called a final Biden effort against firms tied to political opponents.

Trumps return created fresh betting opportunities. After he launched the DOGE initiative in January 2025, Polymarket introduced a dashboard tracking the cuts.

Influencers promoted it on X. Eric Daugherty, paid at least $15,000, announced the dashboard to his one million followers as a breaking update on February 14, 2025.

Riley Gaines, who received at least $6,600, shared the news with over one million followers, calling it awesome.

Conservative personality Elijah Schaffer, paid more than $8,400, posted Exciting news! and said the dashboard would stay bookmarked for the next four years.