Is Polymarket legal in the US? Federal status and state by state (November 2026)

Contents

Which Polymarket is legal in the US?#

Polymarket runs two exchanges, and only one is meant for Americans. Polymarket's help centre says US residents must use the Polymarket US app, and that its accounts are not connected to polymarket.com.

What Polymarket is and how it works walks through a first trade on each.

Is Polymarket US federally regulated?#

Yes. The CFTC's filing for QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US lists it as a designated contract market, status "Designated", dated 9 July 2025, and notes that QCX now operates under the name Polymarket US. The same page holds an amended order from November 2025 that lifts the original ban on futures brokers carrying customer accounts, which opens the exchange to access through brokers.

Trades clear through QC Clearing LLC, which does business as Polymarket Clearing. The CFTC registered it as a clearing house on 16 December 2024, permitted to clear fully collateralized positions.

To trade, you accept Polymarket US's participant agreement, version 1.4 of 6 August 2026. In it you state that you are at least 18 and of age in your state, and not located anywhere trading on the exchange is prohibited by law or by its policy. Sign-up requires your Social Security number and an identity check before you can deposit.

This is a return. In January 2022 the CFTC fined Blockratize, Inc. d/b/a Polymarket $1.4 million for offering event contracts on polymarket.com without registering as an exchange, and ordered it to wind down the non-compliant markets. Polymarket US runs through the separately licensed QCX entity.

Can you use polymarket.com in the US?#

No. Polymarket.com's terms of use, effective 11 August 2026, say trading "is not permitted by persons or entities who reside in, are located in" the United States, call using a VPN to get around this "strictly prohibited", and allow the company to put violators' wallets in close-only mode. Its footer adds: "This international platform is not regulated by the CFTC and operates independently."

Polymarket's own pages disagree on what a US visitor can still do. Its developer geoblock list puts the United States under close-only, meaning existing positions can be closed but no new ones opened. Its help centre's geographic restrictions page, updated on 29 October 2026, lists the United States among countries that are "completely restricted". The help centre page carries that date; the developer page carries none. If you hold old polymarket.com positions, ask support@polymarket.com before counting on an exit; how to withdraw from Polymarket covers getting the money out.

Is Polymarket legal in all 50 states?#

Polymarket's two app listings say different things. Its App Store listing calls Polymarket "fully legal & CFTC regulated in the United States" and available "in all 50 states", with a footnote: "Trading currently unavailable in NV". Its Google Play listing, updated on 7 November 2026, makes the same 50-state claim with no footnote.

States see it differently. These are the state actions naming Polymarket US that we confirmed at the state's own source:

The list is not complete. Wisconsin, for one, has sued Polymarket in state court alongside four other platforms, per California's Attorney General. Most actions target sports contracts, which the states say need the same license as a sportsbook. Polymarket's answer, as Missouri's letter describes it, is that its contracts fall under the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC's exclusive regulation.

The CFTC's view on access points the other way from the states. On 5 November 2026 it issued an interpretation of its impartial access rule: exchanges "must cease domestic geographic restrictions" within 30 days or explain to the CFTC why they can't. It names no exchange or state, and it does not overturn a state court order. Courts have not settled the underlying question; in Nevada, a federal appeals court ruled against Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood on 28 August 2026, per the Gaming Control Board's timeline. Is Kalshi legal follows those cases.

Is Polymarket legal in California?#

Polymarket US is open in California: neither app listing excludes it. We found no lawsuit, order or letter from California naming Polymarket as of 11 November 2026. California's Attorney General has, though, joined 11 multistate briefs, per the release linked above, backing other states against Kalshi and "similar prediction market companies", the latest on 6 November 2026, saying "Prediction markets cannot use federal loopholes to bypass state consumer protection, sports gaming, and gambling laws."

Is Polymarket legal in Texas?#

Polymarket US is open in Texas too, and we found no Texas lawsuit, order or letter naming it. The tension is in the statute: Texas Penal Code section 47.02 makes it an offense to stake money on the result of a game or contest, or of an election. We found no Texas court or agency applying that section to a CFTC-designated exchange. Texas was not among the states in California's 6 November coalition.

Is Polymarket legal outside the US?#

Only polymarket.com serves other countries, and the help centre's restricted list, linked above, blocks dozens of them, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Singapore and Japan, plus Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. That page says eligible users may keep trading while visiting an unrestricted country. Travel does not lift the terms' other restrictions, though: they bar anyone who resides in a restricted jurisdiction, with "no exceptions". Polymarket's list is its own policy; local law can be stricter. For apps that serve your country, see Polymarket alternatives, which covers the UK, Canada, Europe, India and Australia.

Totalis, which publishes this page, is a prediction market app on Hyperliquid, and it is not an option in the US either: its terms of service exclude US persons and anyone in the US. Elsewhere it trades HIP-4 outcome markets as singles or as Combos of 2 to 5 legs (how Totalis Combos work), with an invite code to sign up. You can view its markets on Totalis. Hyperliquid and US users explains why the same applies to Hyperliquid.

FAQ#

Why is Kalshi legal but not Polymarket?#

Both now run CFTC-regulated US exchanges. Kalshi got its designation in November 2020; Polymarket came back through QCX in 2025. What stays off-limits to Americans is polymarket.com, the international exchange. What Kalshi is covers that exchange, and the best prediction market apps lists the other regulated US options.

How old do you have to be to use Polymarket?#

18, under Polymarket US's participant agreement and both app listings. New York's lawsuit objects to exactly this, because New York requires mobile sportsbook customers to be at least 21.

Is it illegal to use Polymarket with a VPN?#

Polymarket.com's terms prohibit it, and it can restrict wallets that do. Whether it also breaks a law depends on where you are.

Sources and further reading#

• CFTC filing 49571: QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US, accessed 2026-11-11
• CFTC filing 50836: QC Clearing LLC d/b/a Polymarket Clearing, accessed 2026-11-11
• CFTC impartial access interpretation, 2026-11-05
• Polymarket.com terms of use, effective 2026-08-11, accessed 2026-11-11
• Polymarket geographic restrictions, updated 2026-10-29, accessed 2026-11-11
• Nevada Gaming Control Board timeline, accessed 2026-11-11
• Michigan Gaming Control Board on Polymarket US, 2026-10-28