Mystery Polymarket trader turned $4 million into $9 million after Spain’s shocking World Cup draw

When the game ended 0-0, both paid out. The wallet redeemed about $4.7 million on the Spain market and $8.5 million on the spread, per its public trading record, for a one-day profit of roughly $9 million.

On the other side, a trader using the name ‘betoor619’ lost nearly $1 million, Polymarket’s trading records reviewed by CoinDesk show. The bettor had put almost $1.1 million on a Spain win when the market priced the favorite at about 92%. Had Spain won, the payout would have been only about $85,000, the thin reward typical of betting on near-certain outcomes.

The account had never won or lost more than $9,000 on a single event before, history tied to the account shows.

Polymarket is a prediction market where people trade shares tied to real-world outcomes, with prices that act as implied odds and settlement in USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, on a public blockchain.

Traders use crypto wallets and operate under pseudonyms rather than real names, a feature lawmakers have criticized because the platform does not collect the background information regulated sportsbooks do.

About $64 million traded on the Spain match alone. Polymarket’s market on the overall tournament winner has drawn about $2.4 billion, making the World Cup its biggest event since last year’s U.S. election and pushing it past the roughly $1.4 billion wagered on this year’s Super Bowl.