During the Super Bowl, Logan Paul made headlines by seemingly placing a $1 million bet on the New England Patriots through Polymarket, a crypto prediction market platform. Polymarket even shared a clip of Paul “checking Polymarket at the Big Game.” But closer inspection quickly revealed that Paul’s account had no funds, meaning the wager was never actually possible.
Crypto analyst ZachXBT dug into the market’s top holders and confirmed that none matched Paul’s claimed bet. He called the stunt “yet another Logan Paul scam,” likely referencing Paul’s previous CryptoZoo project, which left investors out of pocket and sparked multiple lawsuits. There’s also speculation of a behind-the-scenes relationship between Paul and Polymarket, as he livestreamed promotional attempts that ZachXBT described as “inorganic.”
Polymarket, along with rival platform Kalshi, is already facing legal scrutiny in the U.S. Polymarket has sued Massachusetts to prevent the state from shutting down its sports betting markets, arguing that federal law and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are the only regulators authorized to oversee such contracts.
Meanwhile, critics have raised ethical concerns about marketing these platforms. Crypto commentator “DeFi_Dad” compared Kalshi’s ads to “rat poison squared,” warning that they mislead users into treating risky gambling as investing. BetHog CEO Nigel Eccles added that Kalshi’s campaigns target young adults, encouraging dangerous betting behavior and raising concerns about underage gambling.
Ultimately, Paul didn’t lose any money—Seattle beat the Patriots 29–13—but the stunt highlights the ongoing scrutiny over celebrity promotions of crypto betting platforms, the legality of these markets, and the ethical questions surrounding how they’re marketed to the public.
