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Bubblemaps Reports 80 High-Accuracy Bets on Polymarket Ahead of U.S. Iran Actions

Bubblemaps analysts identified 80 bets on Polymarket with a 98 percent win rate on U.S. military actions against Iran. The findings prompted renewed calls for legislation restricting war-related prediction market contracts.

CoinDesk
1 source·May 21, 3:38 PM(8 days ago)·1m read
Bubblemaps Reports 80 High-Accuracy Bets on Polymarket Ahead of U.S. Iran ActionsCoinDesk
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U.S. military actions against Iran. The bets were placed in the days before the Feb. 28 surprise attacks, the removal of Iran's supreme leader, and the announcement of a ceasefire. Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman said the accuracy could not be explained by luck. S. military operations.

Vaiman said the accounts also placed smaller losing bets on Feb. 20, possibly to avoid attention. He added that civilians reportedly checked Polymarket during the Iran strikes to decide whether to sleep in bunkers. S. government. He noted the data may indicate someone with an unfair informational advantage.

Legislative Response Rep.

Mike Levin said on X that the insider trading problem with prediction markets is bigger than previously known. He and Sen. Adam Schiff introduced the DEATH BETS Act to ban contracts on war. Polymarket announced a partnership with Chainalysis two weeks before the Bubblemaps findings to add oversight to its platform.

The company has stated it maintains strict insider trading rules and uses AI-powered surveillance and blockchain forensics to identify suspicious activity. Vaiman said prediction markets could be used as intelligence tools. He noted a government could place bets to create a false signal and mislead adversaries.

Key Facts

80 bets
identified with 98 percent win rate on Iran-related events
$2.4 million
earned by nine accounts betting on U.S. military operations
DEATH BETS Act
introduced by Rep. Mike Levin and Sen. Adam Schiff to ban war contracts
Chainalysis partnership
announced by Polymarket two weeks before Bubblemaps findings

Story Timeline

4 events
  1. Feb. 20, 2026

    Nine accounts placed smaller losing bets on Polymarket ahead of Iran-related events.

    1 sourceCoinDesk
  2. Feb. 28, 2026

    U.S. conducted surprise attacks on Iran followed by removal of supreme leader and ceasefire.

    1 sourceCoinDesk
  3. May 18, 2026

    Bubblemaps made investigation public via series of X posts.

    1 sourceCoinDesk
  4. May 21, 2026

    CoinDesk published report on Bubblemaps findings and legislative response.

    1 sourceCoinDesk

Potential Impact

  1. 01

    Lawmakers may advance legislation restricting war-related prediction market contracts.

  2. 02

    Polymarket may increase monitoring of high-volume accounts following the report.

  3. 03

    Other prediction market platforms could face similar regulatory scrutiny.

Transparency Panel

Sources cross-referenced1
Confidence score75%
Synthesized bySubstrate AI
Word count197 words
PublishedMay 21, 2026, 3:38 PM
Bias signals removed2 across 1 outlet
Signal Breakdown
Loaded 1Editorializing 1

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