Benefiting from the global hype brought by the US election, the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket gained widespread attention due to its prediction accuracy far exceeding market polls. On bets related to whether Trump or Biden would ultimately win, Polymarket even attracted over $3 billion in capital inflows at one point.
As a successful Web3 project that has gained global recognition, Polymarket has recently revealed to the public through its user reward settlement interface that it plans to issue its own cryptocurrency in the future and conduct an airdrop to users, according to a report by The Block:
We expect to do an airdrop in the future, reinvesting rewards into users of other prediction projects, and you may also be eligible for more rewards and airdrops.
If you stick with Polymarket, you'll be happy.
Polymarket TVL Drops to 1.73 Billion USD
As for the reason behind Polymarket's decision to conduct an airdrop, it may be partly related to the significant decline in the platform's Total Value Locked (TVL) after the US election concluded. At the time of writing, the TVL is around $173 million, a decrease of about 60% from the peak of $429 million on November 4.
Therefore, many community members have analyzed that Polymarket's announcement of issuing a token and conducting an airdrop is actually an attempt to lock in users and prevent an outflow of users and capital from the platform as the hype subsides.
Will Polymarket Bettors in Taiwan be Considered to Have Illegal Income from Airdrops?
It is worth noting that in early January this year, Taiwan also held a presidential election. At that time, the Taiwanese police determined that Polymarket was an illegal gambling platform and arrested a group of bettors.
Deferred Prosecution for 1 Year, Condition to Pay 30,000 NTD to the Treasury
According to a report by BlockTempo in June this year, between December 12 and 17 last year, a Mr. Chen bet 472.17 USDC (about 15,000 NTD) on Polymarket that Ko Wen-je would be elected president, and another 60.19 USDC (1,920 NTD) that the Democratic Progressive Party would win more legislative seats.
The Shilin District Prosecutors Office concluded the investigation, indicating that Mr. Chen violated the "offense of gambling on the results of the presidential and vice presidential election using the Internet" in the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, and the "offense of gambling on the results of the election of central public officials using the Internet" in the Public Officials Election and Recall Act. However, considering that Mr. Chen admitted to the crime and had no prior convictions, the prosecutors decided to grant him a deferred prosecution for 1 year, on the condition that he pay 30,000 NTD to the treasury.
In the future, if Polymarket does indeed issue a token and conduct an airdrop, it may become an additional element for the prosecutors to determine the commission of a gambling offense, and the airdrops received by these bettors may also be considered illegal income and confiscated by the government.
Elements of the Offense of Gambling
According to an explanation by laws010, the elements of the offense of gambling can be broken down into the following 3 items:
1. There Must be Gambling Behavior
The definition of "gambling" is to determine the outcome of winning or losing based on a chance event, rather than being able to predict the outcome in advance. In other words, the behavior must have an element of chance (i.e., uncertainty, randomness, such as using probability or luck to gain property or benefits). As for the method of gambling, there is no restriction on whether it uses gambling equipment prohibited by the administrative authorities.
2. Gambling Must Take Place in a Public Place
If gambling takes place in a "public place" or a "place accessible to the public", it will constitute a criminal offense. This is to prevent the public from imitating each other and developing a mentality of wanting to get something for nothing, which would lead to a deterioration of social order.
In the past, the Internet was considered to have a closed, private, and virtual nature, and did not have public accessibility, so most online gambling cases were acquitted or only fined under the Social Order Maintenance Act. However, since the amendment of the gambling offense law on December 28, 2021, as long as the bettor gambles through a mobile phone, telephone, or website, even if it is against the website, it will constitute the offense of gambling.
3. The gambling property must exist
The perpetrator must "gamble for property", that is, use money or other valuable items as the price to be paid for winning or losing the bet. If it is only a temporary entertainment or recreational item, because of its low economic value, it is not within the scope of punishment. As for what constitutes a temporary entertainment item, the standard of judgment should be based on the general social perception and conform to public sentiment.
Further reading: Over 30 gamblers arrested in 2 months! The "illegal on-chain betting" of the Taiwan presidential election on Polymarket has soared to over 46 million
