Daily brief: Polymarket CMO exit, Tether probe, Glamsterdam delay

October 23, 2026

CoinDesk's daily briefing rounds up three developments: Polymarket fired chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber after an internal investigation into alleged fake trading; Sen. Richard Blumenthal added an inquiry into payments Tether made to the firm of former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines; and Ethereum developers delayed the Glamsterdam upgrade's testnet activation over security concerns.

The Polymarket firing follows reports of several misconduct episodes, including a 2025 WSJ story about a fake trading-demo webpage now under CFTC scrutiny.
Blumenthal's Tether inquiry extends his wider scrutiny of the stablecoin issuer, including his letter to Cantor Fitzgerald and a subcommittee report linking USDT to Iran's shadow banking network.
Glamsterdam activated on Sepolia on Oct. 6, but its Hoodi testnet step was postponed after researchers flagged EIP-8037 gas-accounting changes that could alter how existing contracts handle failed transactions.

No further details were disclosed in the briefing.

The Polymarket firing follows reports of several misconduct episodes, including a 2025 WSJ story about a fake trading-demo webpage now under CFTC scrutiny.
Blumenthal's Tether inquiry extends his wider scrutiny of the stablecoin issuer, including his letter to Cantor Fitzgerald and a subcommittee report linking USDT to Iran's shadow banking network.
Glamsterdam activated on Sepolia on Oct. 6, but its Hoodi testnet step was postponed after researchers flagged EIP-8037 gas-accounting changes that could alter how existing contracts handle failed transactions.

No further details were disclosed in the briefing.

Daily brief: Polymarket CMO exit, Tether probe, Glamsterdam delay

Sources

Daily brief: Polymarket CMO exit, Tether probe, Glamsterdam delay

Sources