A New York Times investigation published Sunday morning describes a yearlong campaign at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to clear regulatory hurdles for three companies with deep ties to the Trump family, while purging the career staff who raised objections.
The story, by reporters Sharon LaFraniere and David Yaffe-Bellany, draws on agency records and interviews with more than 30 former and current staff members and company officials.
Three firms sit at the center of the reporting: Polymarket, Crypto.com and Gemini affiliate Gemini Titan. Each, per the NYT, needed CFTC sign-off for its prediction market ambitions, and each has a direct line to the president's family.
Polymarket received an investment from 1789 Capital, the venture firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr., who also serves as an unpaid adviser to the firm. Crypto.com is a business partner of Trump Media & Technology Group, with which it struck an exclusive deal last October to launch "Truth Predict" on Truth Social, President Trump's bespoke social media site. Gemini's founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, back American Bitcoin, the crypto firm co-founded by Eric Trump.
Senior career officials told the NYT they worried Crypto.com was not treating small bettors fairly, that Polymarket lacked adequate fraud protections, and that Gemini Titan had not completed the required review to open for business.
