A wave of Polymarket traders have criticized the platform over the resolution of a market asking whether Michael Saylor's Strategy would sell any bitcoin by May 31, arguing that the outcome was resolved incorrectly.
The market sparked backlash after resolving to "No" twice, with both outcomes subsequently challenged. The event is currently in its final review stage.
Strategy disclosed in an 8-K filing on June 1 that the company sold 32 BTC (BTC) for roughly $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31, marking the firm's first bitcoin sale since December 2022.
Traders supporting the "Yes" resolution pointed to Strategy's 8-K filing as evidence that the bitcoin sales occurred before the May 31 deadline. Meanwhile, users backing the other side argued that the information was not made public until after the market's deadline, and therefore the market should resolve to "No."
Polymarket on Monday updated the market page with an additional context note, stating: "Confirmation achieved outside of the market's time frame does not qualify."
Many traders have since pushed back against Polymarket's "No" resolution. One trader, willo2, claimed on X that he lost $500,000 after Polymarket allegedly kept the market open for betting on June 1, prompting him to place large "Yes" bets.
"This was straight-up NOT part of the rules," willo2 wrote, referring to the additional note. "Why? Because if it was true, the market would have closed on May 31. The market didn't close."
Another user, 0xDinosaur, also wrote on X that the market should be resolved based on the actual transaction rather than the timing of the disclosure, later issuing a "notice of dispute and demand for review" to the platform.
"This should be an event-based market, not a disclosure-timing market. A filing date and a transaction date are different things," said 0xDinosaur, who bought 49,695.76 "Yes" shares for around 35,000 USDC.
Polymarket has not issued a further public response to the controversy. The Block has reached out to Polymarket for comment.
If the dispute escalates further, it could eventually go through Polymarket's resolution process for contested markets, which in some cases involves voting by holders of the UMA token.