Polymarket says two traders suing over a disputed Strategy Bitcoin bet had already agreed to settle such fights through arbitration.
The prediction market platform asked a New York state court to compel William Wood and Thomas Bush to arbitrate their claims and pause the lawsuit, according to a July 31 filing reviewed by The Coinformer.
- Wood and Bush sued Polymarket in July after a market asking whether Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy, would sell any Bitcoin by May 31 resolved "No."
- Strategy later disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had indeed sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31.
- But as the traders allege, Polymarket changed how the market would be judged after trading ended and improperly denied payouts on their "Yes" positions.
Polymarket points to its own terms
Polymarket's latest filing doesn't ask the court to decide whether the disputed market should have resolved "Yes."
Instead, the company argues that Wood and Bush repeatedly accepted Polymarket's Terms of Use while using the platform and that those terms require disputes to be resolved through binding arbitration rather than in court.
But Polymarket is now relying on the same broader agreement to argue that the lawsuit belongs in arbitration.
The company is also asking the court to compel both traders to arbitrate their claims and stay the court case while that process plays out. The judge hasn't yet ruled on the request.
Wood and Bush are seeking the value they say their "Yes" shares should have paid, along with other damages and legal costs. Their complaint alleges breach of contract, deceptive practices and false advertising.