On Wednesday (local time), Bloomberg reported that an anonymous gambler who won 48 million U.S. dollars by predicting President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election is making headlines. The report said the French national has four accounts, including “Freddie9999” and “Theo4,” and is active on the cryptocurrency-based betting site Polymarket.
The gambler first won 22 million dollars on a bet predicting the winner of the U.S. presidential election and another 26 million dollars on separate bets regarding whether Trump would lead in the popular vote, win Pennsylvania, which is the biggest swing state, etc.
The gambler’s large-scale bets caught attention before the election. When he increased his bets in favor of President-elect Trump in the run-up to the election, Polymarket reportedly became concerned about possible manipulation and even conducted its own investigation, which found no evidence of wrongdoing.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the gambler described himself as someone with extensive experience in the financial sector and worked for banks in the U.S. He dismissed the possibility of manipulation, saying he was simply betting on Trump’s chances of winning.
In his post on Polymarket, he described himself as a European investor, statistician, and high-stakes gambler, and said investing in Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is more promising than gambling. “When I take office, I will make the U.S. the cryptocurrency capital of the world,” the president-elect said, adding that he intends to actively promote the industry.
Yunjin Kim kyj@donga.com
