Polymarket whale loses $3.6 million on Tyson bet after netting $11 million from Trump win

Quick Take

  • A Polymarket whale lost big betting on Mike Tyson to win his boxing bout against Jake Paul, who secured a unanimous decision victory after eight rounds. 
  • The whale lost $3.6 million — a hefty sum, but still less than a third of their $11 million winnings from betting on Trump to win the Presidential election. 

A Polymarket whale, fresh from profiting around $11 million from betting on Trump's victory, has given up nearly a third of that sum after backing the wrong horse in Friday night's heavily publicized boxing match between 58-year-old legend Mike Tyson and 27-year-old influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul. 

Paul cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Tyson after eight two-minute rounds in Friday night's bout, which saw the younger man pepper Tyson with blow after blow as Tyson attempted to conserve his energy, growing visibly tired as the match progressed. 

Paul's odds of victory stood at about 63.5% on Polymarket going into Friday night's bout, while Tyson's chance of victory stood at 29.5%. The chance of a draw was determined to be 8.5% by the prediction market. 

Polymarket whale "zxgngl," who had profited $11 million betting on Trump to win re-election to the presidency earlier this month, put about $3.6 million on Tyson emerging victorious, buying over 11 million shares at an average price of 33¢, representing one-third odds. However, their bet went sour this time, wiping out nearly a third of their prior winnings. 

The Paul/Tyson prediction market saw $63 million in volume, signaling the fight's popularity among the site's userbase. Though zxgngl may have lost their bet, they still remain the fourth-highest earner on the site, according to Polymarket's leaderboard


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About Author

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].