Two Taiwanese individuals were arrested for betting on Polymarket! Prosecutors cracked the first case involving a virtual currency in a nine-in-one election prediction market.

Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office Busts the Nation’s First “Virtual Currency” Nine-in-One Election Wagering Platform Case; Two gamblers were investigated for violating the 《Act of Public Officials Elections and Recall》 and gambling-related offenses. As early as February, Chain News had already issued a warning to Polymarket about Taiwan’s election prediction—saying it could potentially cross the red line of the 《Election and Recall Act》. Now, with Yunlin prosecutors and police uncovering the first-ever virtual-currency nine-in-one election betting platform case in the country, it confirms that placing bets on-chain is not a gray area, and that anonymous transactions can also be traced.

No Escape From Illegality on-Chain—Election Wagers Could Trigger the Law

Chain News reported on February 26 that Polymarket had listed “2026 Taiwanese Local Elections: Party Winner (2026 Taiwan local elections: party winner).” Even then, it warned readers that betting activities targeting Taiwan’s election results are not simply an on-chain prediction game, and could directly cross the red line of the 《Election and Recall Act》.

(Prediction market bets on Taiwan’s 2026 local elections: KMT win probability 88%! Bets may violate the Election and Recall Act)

After that, the article was also copied by third-tier crypto-media outlets, and viewpoints—including risk warnings—were widely cited. At the time, Chain News clearly stated that as long as election results are involved in gambling, regardless of whether the format is wrapped as a prediction market, criminal liability could still be on the table, and it urged Taiwan users not to break the law by trying it themselves.

Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office Busts the Nation’s First “Virtual Currency” Nine-in-One Election Wagering Platform

And this risk warning proved accurate a month later. The Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office and the police have already uncovered the nation’s first “virtual currency” nine-in-one election wagering platform case. According to reports, police discovered through online patrol that the offshore decentralized prediction platform Polymarket had opened betting markets for this year’s end-of-year nine-in-one local elections, using “2026 Taiwanese Local Elections: Party Winner” as the target. They lured unspecified members of the public to place bets with the stablecoin USDC.

After the task force conducted further investigation, on March 19 in Xindian and Zhonghe in New Taipei City, they brought in two gamblers. Prosecutors said the two placed bets on January 1 and January 4 this year, respectively, with bet amounts of 5 USDC and 20 USDC. They also admitted to betting on the victory of a specific political party. Prosecutors added that Polymarket is not a traditional sportsbook where a bookmaker sets the odds and pays out; instead, it uses a mechanism similar to an order book that lets market participants take positions against one another, and there was even a payout ratio as high as 1 to 20 at one point.

Because such conduct is capable of influencing voters’ perceptions, social public opinion, and election fairness, the entire case was ultimately handled for investigation under the 《Act of Public Officials Elections and Recall》 and gambling offenses. However, considering that both defendants had no prior criminal record, admitted their wrongdoing, and showed good conduct after the offense, prosecutors concluded the investigation on April 1 and issued a dismissal-without-prosecution disposition with conditions.

Chain News Exclusive Interview With the 2023 Presidential Election Suspect

In fact, this is not the first time Taiwan’s judicial system has taken action against on-chain election predictions. As early as during the 2023 presidential election, Polymarket had listed trading pairs related to Taiwan’s presidential election, which triggered large-scale enforcement by prosecutors and police. Chain News previously conducted an exclusive interview with one of the people arrested that year. According to the report at the time, on December 14, 2023, the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office mobilized more than 70 police personnel to conduct synchronized searches in multiple locations across Taiwan, arresting 17 people involved in the case, with a total amount involved of approximately 5,502 USDC.

(Polymarket election betting scandal—how was I caught?)

The interviewee revealed that he originally viewed Polymarket as a decentralized prediction tool, but unexpectedly was detained by the police for getting involved in Taiwan’s election-targeted betting, and after two rounds of interviews, he admitted involvement in gambling and violations of the election and recall laws.

What shocked that person most was not only the enforcement itself, but that the police could trace the on-chain funds through the path from the centralized exchange withdrawals he made to Polymarket, and then further require the exchange to provide KYC identity information—allowing what he thought was “anonymous” on-chain activity to quickly return to real-world verified identity.

That is also why, in 2026, this nine-in-one local election virtual currency betting market case— to some extent— is a continuation and on-the-ground implementation of the 2023 presidential election enforcement model. It once again demonstrates that once election predictions involve actual wagers, in Taiwan’s regulatory and judicial practice, it is no longer just a gray area.

This article Two Taiwanese arrested for Polymarket bets! Prosecutors cracked the first virtual-currency nine-in-one election prediction market case first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.