In the weeks leading up to the 2024 U.S. Election, millions of Americans placed bets on who would win. But one particular bettor, known only as “Theo” from France, made a huge wager that has stunned everyone.
Theo put a massive $30 million bet on Donald Trump winning the White House, using a crypto-based platform called Polymarket. At first, experts thought that if Trump won, Theo would walk away with around $48 million in profit. But as the election results came in, things took a surprising turn.
A blockchain data company called Chainalysis recently revealed that Theo’s profit is actually a lot higher—about $84 million! How did that happen? Well, Chainalysis discovered something unexpected: Theo wasn’t just using one or two accounts, but possibly as many as 11 separate accounts on Polymarket. That meant his potential winnings were much higher than anyone first realized.
To make things even more interesting, Chainalysis found a 10th account linked to Theo, boosting his estimated profit by nearly $5 million. There’s even a suspicion of an 11th account, which could add another $2.1 million to his total. It looks like Theo’s secret strategy paid off big time!
This wasn’t the only big bet in the market. People across the country were pouring money into prediction markets, hoping to make a profit off their election guesses. In fact, Polymarket alone saw over $3.7 billion in election-related bets. Other platforms like Robinhood, Kalshi, and PredictIt saw even more money flowing in.
Theo, who remains completely anonymous, explained in an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal that his main goal wasn’t political—it was simply to make money. He said, “I have absolutely no political agenda.”
The betting odds for Trump’s win weren’t exactly clear-cut. Just hours before Election Day, Polymarket gave Trump a 58% chance of winning the election, with Vice President Kamala Harris at 42%. Other platforms like Kalshi had Trump at 55% and Harris at 45%.
What’s even crazier is that when Theo first made his bet, people thought he was using just four accounts. But now, with all the evidence pointing to at least 10 or 11 accounts, it’s clear that Theo was playing a much bigger game than anyone imagined.
