On the twenty first flooring of the luxurious Oceania Enterprise Plaza, within the monetary coronary heart of Panama Metropolis, the desks are empty and the silence is damaged solely by the workers of a legislation agency.
In line with official information, the operational coronary heart of Polymarket, the predictions platform that strikes billions of {dollars} in bets on the way forward for the world, ought to beat right here. Nevertheless, when reporters knocked on the door, the response was disconcerting: “We have by no means heard of Polymarket.”
This discrepancy between dazzling digital success and bodily inertia opened a thorny debate within the nation in regards to the so-called “paper firms”. Polymarket, in line with a report, landed legally in Panama below the title of Journey One QSS Inc. after an eventful passage by way of the USA, the place in 2022 it paid a effective of $1.4 million to the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) for working with out registration.
Nevertheless, his workplace is nothing greater than the authorized domicile of the García de Paredes Abogados agency, a authorized apply that right now clashes with new calls for for transparency.
Though the NPR report targeted on Polymarket, the resident agent determine permits a single tackle (such because the twenty first flooring of the Oceania Enterprise Plaza) to legally home lots of and even hundreds of firms. It isn’t public information that’s straightforward to quantify with out entry to the Public Registry, however it’s a systemic apply the place the workplace doesn’t belong to the corporate, it belongs to the legislation agency that represents them.
Paradoxically, whereas in Panama his presence is barely a hint of ink, Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, was recruited in February 2026 by the CFTC itself to hitch its new Monetary Innovation Advisory Committee, sitting alongside the sector’s elite to revamp market surveillance, as reported by CriptoNoticias on the time.
This recognition within the excessive regulatory spheres of the USA contrasts with the shadow of suspicion that also hangs over company constructions within the isthmus. For native analysts, institutional legitimacy doesn’t remove the urgency of reviewing how these platforms function behind the scenes.
Thus far, there aren’t any public plans. Polymarket has stored a low profile concerning its infrastructure in Panama. Their technique appears to be one in every of minimal authorized compliance: so long as the present legislation doesn’t require staff or sq. meters, they don’t have any monetary incentive to alter their offshore mannequin for a standard workplace mannequin.
There are additionally no recognized publications, official statements from the corporate, or responses or reactions on this particular subject. The corporate has not responded to requests in Panamanian or worldwide media.
The load of financial substance in Panama
Rodrigo Icaza, president of the Digital and Blockchain Chamber of Panama, defined completely to CriptoNoticias that this case revives the ghosts of the Panama Papers, though below a unique authorized framework.
Icaza highlighted:
Many cryptocurrency firms register attributable to Panama’s authorized flexibility, however don’t function or present providers within the nation. The important thing debate now’s financial substance; If a mission doesn’t display actual operation within the nation, a passive revenue tax of 15% is estimated to stop the registration determine from getting used to keep away from tax commitments.
Rodrigo Icaza.
This evaluation coincides with a reform to the tax code that the Government despatched to the Nationwide Meeting in extraordinary periods, with the goal of guaranteeing that the nation generates tangible revenue from these digital startups.
Presently, below the precept of territoriality, these firms don’t pay taxes in Panama if their revenue is generated outdoors their territory, which in line with deputies akin to Eduardo Gaitán, offers little financial profit and little native employment.
If the legislative proposal turns into legislation, firms or startups must display financial substance in Panama, that’s, actual operation within the nation. In any other case, a 15% passive revenue tax can be estimated, which might affect digital asset firms by way of prices. The aim is to ensure revenue for the nation and stop the determine of registrations in Panama from getting used to keep away from fiscal and tax commitments.
Rodrigo Icaza.
This phenomenon exposes a head-on collision between the standard economic system, anchored in presence, and a digital period the place digital assistants present providers and receives a commission in cryptocurrencies with out bodily borders.
For Icaza, this convergence of ideas is what right now forces the controversy on the financial substance within the Nationwide Meeting, which has prolonged its capabilities to a rare interval to resolve the way forward for this legislation.
The results of this legislative dialogue will mark a earlier than and after in the fee construction for firms within the sector, figuring out whether or not Panama manages to combine these new types of financial exercise or if the tax burden will restrict its competitiveness within the world ecosystem.
