Tuesday was meant to be a day of celebration for Polymarket, following confirmation that it’s been given the green light to operate in the U.S.
But the milestone’s been overshadowed after one of the prediction market’s social media account was accused of posting a racial slur. The message had said:
“All Jeets, Turks and Nigerians LARPing as egirls will have their Polymarket affiliate badges rescinded by EOD tomorrow. Please get your last slop posts in before then.”
Here’s the problem: “Jeets” is a derogatory term used to describe people with South Asian ancestry, and especially those who are from India.
The now-deleted post on X caused an almighty backlash among followers — especially from those associated with the rival prediction market Kalshi.
“Wojak Codes,” who has a Kalshi badge on this social network, was among those who engaged in the pile-on, writing:
“Companies like @Polymarket want to operate in India and make money here but they encourage such disgusting slurs against Indians from their official accounts. if they don’t post an apology, this needs to be escalated.”
So far, no apology has been forthcoming — neither from the @PolymarketTrade account that published the controversial post, nor its CEO Shayne Coplan.
Some critics have described the slur as “nasty work” and “unpardonable,” not to mention “extremely unprofessional.” Another pointed out that such language is unlikely to entice a new generation of users to start dabbling in crypto.
But there are a few Polymarket traders who have attempted to leap to the site’s defence — insisting that “jeet” isn’t a slur, and the company can’t be racist because “they literally sponsor an Indian South Park character.”
A particularly nuanced perspective came from Abhitej Singh, the founder of Bento.fun. While he described Polymarket as a “once-in-a-generation company,” he expressed concern about the recent tone of its social media content.
“Everyone I’ve interacted with at Polymarket deeply cares about users and about their impact as a company on an information-driven world. But lately, the social media presence has felt a little out of touch with that vision defaulting to ragebaiting and trolling, the very things it set out to defeat.”
While Singh said it’s important for official social media accounts to be funny, witty and engaging, he argues they need to follow a golden rule: “Never abuse or insult users irrespective of their place of origin, ethnicity or background.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that a Polymarket post has caused a backlash. Over the summer, the platform’s Sports profile was accused of being “disrespectful” when it encouraged users to bet on so-called “dildo dailies” — and predict when sex toys would be thrown onto the court of a women’s pro-basketball game.
The site’s also caused considerable discomfort by enabling people to wager on natural disasters such as the California wildfires — in other words, potentially bettors a way to profit on the misery of others. It was also at the center of the unusual debacle surrounding the British YouTuber Lord Miles, who unsuccessfully attempted to complete a 40-day fast in a desert.
Polymarket’s latest controversy illustrates a couple of painful truths. One is that the discourse on X is now downright toxic — and worryingly, racist language is becoming increasingly normalized. The mere fact that the site’s executives are yet to apologize or even acknowledge there’s been a misstep proves that. It’s also pretty concerning that the staffer who wrote the post in the first place didn’t stop to think twice before hitting send.
The second is that, for all the talk about mass adoption and going mainstream, the language and communication styles used by crypto-focused companies risk alienating everyday consumers.
Yes, Polymarket is gearing up for a triumphant return to the US — years after it was banished under the Biden administration. It also comes at a time when prediction markets are entering a golden era, with November’s trading volumes set to smash records.
But for this company to attract the billions of users that it craves, not to mention institutional interest and high-profile collaborations with major brands, it’s going to have to engage in some self-examination — and reflect on whether this “crypto bro” discourse could actually do some damage to the business.
Will that happen? I wouldn’t bet on it.
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