NPR went looking for Polymarket's Panama headquarters. It's elusive

Exclusive Technology NPR went looking for Polymarket's Panama headquarters. It's elusive May 5, 20262:46 PM ET By  Bobby Allyn ,  Eliana Morales Gil Polymarket claims its headquarters is on the 21st floor of the Oceania Business Plaza. So do more than a dozen other crypto companies. But the address leads to a law firm. Eliana Morales Gil hide caption toggle caption Eliana Morales Gil PANAMA CITY — On the 21st floor of a gleaming skyscraper in the heart of the upscale Punta Pacifica neighborhood here is the official corporate office of Polymarket, the wildly popular prediction market site that has flourished in President Trump's second term. Polymarket, which is worth an estimated $15 billion, moved to its Panama base following scrutiny from American regulators. If Polymarket users have a legal dispute, the company's terms of service states it will be resolved in a closed-door arbitration process in Panama. But when NPR recently visited the law office listed as its home base in Panamanian government documents, there was no sign of Polymarket, nor the entity it does business as in Panama, Adventure One QSS Inc. Sponsor Message Instead, a nondescript corporate lobby opened into a large space with about a dozen unoccupied computer stations positioned in the middle of the room. An office worker said the attorney who runs the firm, Mario García de Paredes, was not available. The worker had never heard of Polymarket or Adventure One. Planet Money Do prediction market bettors make anything better? Public records show that Polymarket is far from alone in using this Panama City law office as a headquarters in an office park known as the Oceania Business Plaza. So do at least 15 other cryptocurrency companies, including Helix, Drift Protocol, Goldfinch and Parti, a crypto-based prediction market live-streaming site that partners with Polymarket, according to publicly available corporate records. Court filings show the law office also did work for FTX, the now-collaps...