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bitmasher9 4 hours ago

I don’t understand how this isn’t an immediate open and shut case for the police, assuming certain facts are verified independently. At the point that you’re making death threats to strangers you should be removed from civil society.

TheDong 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah, but how do you find the person making the threats?

Polymarket accounts are more-or-less just a crypto address.

Whatsapp accounts are somewhat easier to link to a real identity, but still not hard to at least obscure a bit.

The arm of the law struggles to reach across borders, and on the internet, it's quite plausible all those involved are in different jurisdictions.

xvector 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Polymarket's founder is Shayne Coplan, 27-year old "youngest self-made billionaire" (why do all billionaires seem devoid of ethics?)

A sane system would just throw him in jail until his illegal betting market implements KYC.

skybrian 15 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, I think they should implement KYC pretty darn quick, and perhaps there’s more they can do. But he didn’t make the death threats.

civvv 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>(why do all billionaires seem devoid of ethics?)

The type of person at the top of a hierarchical system is always a direct reflection of its play rules. In late-stage internet capitalism you win by being the most unhinged and un-emphatic. Today's young adults grew up on twitter, 4chan, video game gambling and with influencers telling them that the only thing that matters is material wealth and status. This culture has moved more and more into the mainstream in the last decade.

williamdclt 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> why do all billionaires seem devoid of ethics?

why do all NBA players seem so tall?

kspacewalk2 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A sane system doesn't "throw" human beings in jail for flippant and arbitrary reasons. Sociopaths exploit this, to be sure.

thinkingtoilet an hour ago | parent [-]

The reasons are neither flippant or arbitrary.

cucumber3732842 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>A sane system would just throw him in jail.

<facepalm>

A capricious system that interprets based on whim, politics and influence is a large part of how we got here.

People like this and their less than moral path in which they further their endeavors succeed specifically because of this environment.

Polymarket is basically a platform to monetize petty stuff while also being able to monetize bad stuff. There is soooo much pressure to monetize bad stuff that once you poke a hole it's an uncontrolled leak. Polymarket recognized this, used it to scale, and then wisely used that money to get the legitimization and buy in that they needed to make the system (capriciously) say "this is fine for now you can keep going".

They basically pulled a "actually Mr. Banker, I owe you so much money that it's your problem" but for insider information. The other metaphor you could use if people with a steady supply of prescription opioids don't turn to street drugs.

nickspacek 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There's probably a useful middle ground between tossing people in jail and rewarding with great wealth, power, and influence those people whose main drive appears to be accumulation of said things without regard for their fellow citizens.

xvector 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It is not capricious to hold C-suite legally accountable for their choices. Lots of corporate scandals would simply not have happened if decisionmakers had skin in the game.

If CISOs can have personal liability for data breaches, CEOs can have personal liability for intentionally creating an illegal platform.

Instead we reward these people with billions for degrading the fabric of society.

redeeman 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

KYC is nothing sane. in what world does anything give you or anyone else the right to decide to probe people up their rear end just because they want to do business? people like you are extremely dangerous.

loads of banks all over the world now demands to know what you plan to spend the money on just to withdraw a bit cash. Some will even deny you saying "well.. you shouldnt buy a new car anyway". all the KYC shit. how about just no?

laurentiurad 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

yea just throw the CEO of microsoft in jail too because illegal transactions are set via Xbox live.

polytely 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

unironically yes, I think with the huge payday they get for being responsible for Microsoft they should also carry an equivalent responsibility when they cause social harms. Billionaires have gotten way too comfortable.

xvector 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Betting markets are legally required to have KYC. If you or I operated a casino illegally we would ABSOLUTELY be thrown in jail.

Do you seriously think fraudulent Xbox live transactions are on the same level of the heinous insider trading going on in betting markets?

Or do you just think C-suite should be legally immune from accountability overall?

Polymarket's decentralized and anonymous nature was an intentional choice by its creator precisely because it enables illegal, anonymous transactions.

twodave 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Putting aside this is sort of a knee-jerk reaction, if this was actually implemented you’d just see the role of the CEO change to basically be a highly-paid fall-guy. People in those positions today would vacate them for quieter roles behind the scenes, and corporations would put greater effort forth to hide their decision making processes. I don’t think it would be a better system.

tclancy 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>you’d just see the role of the CEO change to basically be a highly-paid fall-guy.

That seems to be assuming a world where CEOs actually face meaningful consequences and that feels like a good start.

xvector 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Sure, and we can deal with that problem when it comes to it. For now, there are people at these companies that are clearly responsible and can be held accountable.

ryan_j_naughton 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I agree. This involved should be investigated and prosecuted.

Just a pedantic, nit pick: you said "should be removed from civil society" but I think you just mean "removed from society" as in prosecuted and imprisoned.

"Civil society" has a specific meaning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_society

pjc50 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If the gamblers are outwith Israel, there's not a lot the Israeli police can do. They're not going to go full Operation 'Wrath of God' for this guy.

echoangle 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s probably an open and shut case regarding being illegal but prosecution could be hard. How are you going to find the person?

2OEH8eoCRo0 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't like that the internet can be used to harm you without any recourse.