Polymarket betting on the 2026 nine-in-one election: 2 Taiwanese people were arrested! The investigators used by tracing the flow of funds to identify them

Authorities bust the first Polymarket virtual currency election betting scandal! Police successfully arrested two Taiwanese bettors by tracing the flow of funds and IP addresses. The two admitted their wrongdoing and were given non-prosecution with probation, reminding the public not to break the Election and Recall Law by testing the limits.

Taiwanese people caught for betting in Polymarket on the 2026 Jiujiu local elections

The Yunlin District Prosecutors Office and police recently uncovered a domestic case involving virtual currency election betting targeting the 2026 end-of-year Jiujiu local elections. Prosecutors said they led a task force to investigate and arrested two bettors, identified as a man surnamed Lu and a man surnamed Tong.

Multiple Taiwanese media outlets reported details of the police investigation and how the case was solved. Police said that these two Taiwanese people, on the blockchain prediction platform Polymarket, bet on the “2026 Taiwanese Local Elections: Party Winner” for this year’s November 28 Jiujiu local elections, using an encrypted wallet and the U.S. dollar-stablecoin $USDC to place bets on a specific party winning, and are suspected of violating the Election and Recall Law and criminal statutes related to gambling.

Betting on election outcomes is sufficient to influence public opinion and the fairness of elections. However, considering that the two people arrested have no prior criminal records and admitted their wrongdoing, prosecutors today closed the case for investigation and issued a non-prosecution decision with probation.

The police also noted that because Polymarket’s website IP addresses are abroad and offer a high degree of anonymity, investigators will continue to expand the search for any co-conspirators involved.

Police discover betting activities through online patrols, and identify suspects by tracing fund flows

Investigators said they became aware of an illegal election betting scheme on Polymarket during online patrols, and as early as February 26, 《Chain News》 had already published a report noting that such betting markets had appeared.

• **Related report:**Taiwan 2026 local elections: prediction market bets on KMT win rate at 88%, but betting could violate the Election and Recall Law

After the case was uncovered, attorney Huang Yuru-han told 《United Daily News Network》 that the difficulty in investigating this type of case lies in confirming the identity of the bettor. Forensic and technical investigation will comprehensively scan the IP addresses that logged into the website, verify one by one whether they originate from Taiwan, and once identity is confirmed, authorities can apply for search warrants to seize phones and equipment.

Huang Yuru-han said, “Public online gambling already constitutes gambling under the law. Under Article 4 of the Criminal Code, if either the criminal act or its result occurs within the territory of the Republic of China, it is deemed to be a crime within the territory of the Republic of China; therefore, our country has absolute jurisdiction to try the case.”

The police said that many bettors think that by placing bets with cryptocurrencies on a foreign website, they can avoid detection. But by tracing the flow of cryptocurrency funds, investigators can still determine the bettors’ true identities.

The Election and Recall Law is clear—do not break the law

Under Article 103-1 of the Act on Elections and Recall of Public Office Holders: “Anyone who uses telecommunications equipment, electronic communications, the internet, or other similar methods to gamble on election or recall results shall be punished with imprisonment of not more than six months, detention, or a fine of not more than NT$100,000.”

And if the betting market is set up with election or recall results as the target, it shall be punished with imprisonment of not more than five years, and may be fined no more than NT$500,000 in addition. As for the Polymarket platform located in the United States, attorney Lin Shang-lun previously shared that, because it has no physical presence in Taiwan (such as service providers, employees, etc.), it can be said that Taiwan’s judicial jurisdiction will not reach Polymarket.

《Crypto City》 reminds: Police have obtained fund-flow tracing technology, and the statutory penalties for setting up betting markets related to elections are heavier than those for ordinary gambling cases. The public should not test the law by breaking it.