Polymarket upholds ‘No’ ruling in disputed Strategy Bitcoin sale market

Polymarket has finalized a disputed prediction market with a “No” outcome after 98.6% of voting power backed the decision in a final UMA review, despite Strategy disclosing that it sold 32 Bitcoin before the market’s May 31 deadline.

According to Polymarket’s market data, the contract asking whether Strategy would sell any Bitcoin by May 31 completed its final review on Wednesday, ending a dispute that had already triggered two previous “No” resolutions and subsequent challenges.

At the center of the disagreement is Strategy’s June 1 regulatory filing, which revealed that the company sold 32 BTC for roughly $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31. 

Traders who supported a “Yes” outcome argued that the sale itself occurred before the deadline stated in the market question. Others maintained that the transaction was not publicly confirmed until after the deadline had passed.

Days before the final review concluded, Polymarket added a note to the market page stating that “confirmation achieved outside of the market’s time frame does not qualify.” The clarification became a key point in the debate over how the contract should be resolved.

Traders challenge resolution standards

Across social media, several traders criticized the decision and questioned whether the outcome matched the original wording of the contract.

Among the most vocal participants was trader 0xDinosaur, who previously disclosed that he had purchased 49,695.76 “Yes” shares for about 35,000 USDC. 

In a public statement issued before the final ruling, he argued that the contract referred to whether Strategy sold Bitcoin by May 31 and did not explicitly require the sale to be publicly disclosed before that date.

“My position was aggressive, and maybe I was greedy,” 0xDinosaur wrote on X. “But risk-taking does not change the facts, and it does not allow a platform to apply an unclear or unwritten rule after real money has already been placed.”

Earlier reporting on the dispute noted that Strategy’s filing showed the company sold 32 Bitcoin during the final week of May, while still holding 843,706 BTC as of May 31. The filing stated that proceeds from the sale were expected to support preferred stock distributions.

Elsewhere on X, trader willo2 argued that UMA voters were obligated to follow Polymarket’s published rules rather than their personal interpretation of the outcome.

“Even if UMA voters think that this outcome is ridiculous… they are forced to ratify it,” willo2 wrote. “This is because UMA is forced to respect the rules as written by Polymarket. Polymarket changed the rules, and now the outcome is literally in the rules.”

The trader claimed to have lost $500,000 after placing large “Yes” positions on June 1, alleging that the market remained open for betting after information about the sale had emerged.

Debate expands beyond a single market

Beyond the financial losses reported by traders, the dispute has drawn attention to how prediction markets handle events that occur before a deadline but become public afterward.

Galaxy Research said the controversy was less about the outcome itself and more about which set of rules should govern the contract’s resolution.

“The core issue is whether the original rules (event-based) or the post-trade clarification (confirmation-based) governs,” Galaxy Research wrote on X. “Traders correctly predicted the future. The platform is about to tell them they were wrong anyway.”

It argued that prediction markets should prioritize the occurrence of an event rather than reinterpretations introduced after trading has taken place.

“Prediction markets should price what happens, not how the oracle will reinterpret rules after the fact,” the firm said, adding that clearer listing criteria, deterministic resolution methods for verifiable events, and structural changes ahead of potential regulatory oversight could help prevent similar disputes.