Overview
- A group of 12 newly created Polymarket accounts placed highly precise bets that matched the full Ballon d’Or Top 5 order and together staked about $264,000 with roughly $200,000 in payouts.
- France Football opened an internal inquiry and notified police to identify the owners of the flagged accounts and to determine whether confidential voting information was shared before the gala.
- Reporting based on blockchain analysis says at least one transaction was traced to a French platform and that investigators have identified a person linked to an involved account, though no name has been published.
- The accounts showed strikingly similar behavior—created between October 1 and 20, seven of the twelve bet only on this market, and six placed their first wager within 15 minutes of opening their account—which investigators say raises suspicion.
- There is currently no public proof that voting results were leaked and the Ballon d’Or outcome itself is not disputed, but the case highlights how crypto-based betting and cross-border tracing can complicate efforts to protect confidential voting and the award’s reputation.