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 data, 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 corporations”. Polymarket, in accordance with a report, landed legally in Panama underneath the title of Journey One QSS Inc. after an eventful passage by the US, the place in 2022 it paid a high-quality 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 this moment clashes with new calls for for transparency.
Though the NPR report targeted on Polymarket, the resident agent determine permits a single deal with (such because the twenty first flooring of the Oceania Enterprise Plaza) to legally home a whole lot and even hundreds of corporations. It’s not 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 affix 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 US contrasts with the shadow of suspicion that also hangs over company buildings within the isthmus. For native analysts, institutional legitimacy doesn’t remove the urgency of reviewing how these platforms function behind the scenes.
Up to now, there aren’t any public plans. Polymarket has saved a low profile concerning its infrastructure in Panama. Their technique appears to be certainly one of minimal authorized compliance: so long as the present legislation doesn’t require staff or sq. meters, they haven’t any monetary incentive to vary their offshore mannequin for a conventional 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 solely to CriptoNoticias that this case revives the ghosts of the Panama Papers, though underneath a unique authorized framework.
Icaza highlighted:
Many cryptocurrency corporations register on account of Panama’s authorized flexibility, however don’t function or present providers within the nation. The important thing debate now could be financial substance; If a challenge doesn’t show actual operation within the nation, a passive earnings tax of 15% is estimated to forestall 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 intention of guaranteeing that the nation generates tangible earnings from these digital startups.
Presently, underneath the precept of territoriality, these corporations don’t pay taxes in Panama if their earnings is generated outdoors their territory, which in accordance with deputies corresponding to Eduardo Gaitán, supplies little financial profit and little native employment.
If the legislative proposal turns into legislation, corporations or startups must show financial substance in Panama, that’s, actual operation within the nation. In any other case, a 15% passive earnings tax could be estimated, which might influence digital asset corporations when it comes to prices. The aim is to ensure earnings 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 normal financial 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 this moment forces the talk 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 associated fee construction for corporations 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 international ecosystem.
