A Taiwanese person is playing on Polymarket's nine-in-one election betting market! A 22-year-old male college student was arrested, claiming "just curious."

Although the 2026 nine-in-one elections have not yet been held, betting markets have appeared on Polymarket. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office and police have arrested a university student surnamed He who placed bets, and the case is being investigated for gambling crimes and violations of the Election and Recall Law.

The 2026 nine-in-one local elections will be held on November 28. Candidates from various parties have not yet been finalized, yet decentralized prediction platform Polymarket has already appeared with betting markets open for betting. After learning of this, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office directed the Banqiao Branch to form a special task force for in-depth investigation. On April 15, they traced the case to arrest a suspect surnamed He involved in betting in Taipei City, and the case is under expanded investigation.

Following Yunlin District Prosecutors Office’s discovery of two bettors on Polymarket’s nine-in-one election betting markets earlier this month, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office also received election intelligence from the Banqiao Branch of the New Taipei City Police Department. They found that a person was betting on the Polymarket market titled “2026 Taiwanese Local Elections: Party Winner.”

Image source: Polymarket

According to reports from Liberty Times, after police confirmed the flow of cryptocurrency involved, they directly went to the residence of Mr. He on Section 5 of Roosevelt Road, Taipei City, and detained him. The 22-year-old university student, Mr. He, claimed he was purely curious, and that was why he used Polymarket to predict election results and place bets. After questioning, he was transferred for prosecution on charges of gambling and violating the Public Officials Election and Recall Law.

The Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office stated that, according to Article 103-1 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Law, “those who use telecommunications equipment, electronic communications, the internet, or other similar methods to wager on election or recall results” are illegal and can be sentenced to up to six months in prison, detention, or a fine of up to NT$100k.

Blockchain is inherently a public ledger; all transaction data are visible to the public. It is not impossible for law enforcement to trace illegal actors back to their real identities. Here, Blockchain readers are reminded not to participate in betting markets for elections in any form to avoid violating the law.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《BlockTalk》
• Original title: 《Betting on Polymarket “Nine-in-One Election” Markets! 22-Year-Old Student Arrested by Police》
• Original author: Block Sister MEL