What is Polymarket and how does it work?

Contents

Polymarket US vs Polymarket international#

Polymarket's US documentation describes Polymarket and Polymarket US as two products: an "international, crypto-based product" and a "fiat-based, US-regulated platform operating as a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization (DCO)". Polymarket's help centre says the accounts are not connected and each has its own support team.

Sources: Polymarket US funding, Polymarket.com terms of use, and the sign-up, fee and Polymarket 101 pages linked further down.

If you are in the US, only Polymarket US applies to you; whether Polymarket is legal in your state covers Nevada, Michigan and the states suing.

How does Polymarket work?#

Every market is a Yes or No question with written rules. A Yes contract pays $1 if the event happens and $0 if it doesn't, so its price reads as a probability: 62 cents means traders put the chance near 62%. How prediction market odds turn into payouts works through the conversions.

• You trade with other people. Both exchanges run a central limit order book. Polymarket US's explainer, linked above, says it "does not take the other side of your trades and does not set prices". That is the main difference from a sportsbook, covered in prediction markets vs sportsbooks.
• Every contract is fully backed. On Polymarket.com, 1 pUSD creates one Yes and one No share, so each pair is worth exactly $1 at the end. Polymarket Clearing is registered to clear only fully collateralized positions.
• You can sell before the end. On both, you can exit at the current bid instead of waiting for the result.
• No is a short on Polymarket US. Each US market has one instrument, and buying No is recorded as a short position that pays like a No share.

The exchanges settle differently. On Polymarket US the exchange confirms the result from the sources named in each market's rules, and Polymarket Clearing settles winning contracts at $1. Polymarket.com mostly uses the UMA Optimistic Oracle: anyone can propose an outcome with a bond, an undisputed proposal resolves after about 2 hours, and a disputed one takes 4 to 6 days.

What does a first Polymarket trade cost?#

We pulled the order books for the same question on both exchanges on 11 November 2026: the San Antonio Spurs to win the 2027 NBA Finals. Polymarket US came from its public market data API at 10:04 UTC, Polymarket.com from its CLOB API at 10:05 UTC.

How the fees were worked out:

• Polymarket US. Its fee schedule charges Θ × C × p × (1 − p). A new account pays Θ = 0.0695 for the seven days starting with its first filled order, "regardless of volume": 0.0695 × 400 × 0.22 × 0.78 = $4.77. From day 8 to day 30, your tier is set by the higher of your trailing 30-day volume and your first week's volume × 30/7. If this $88 order was your only trade, that is the lowest tier, where the docs set Θ at 0.095 and the same order costs $6.52, 7.4% of the $88. Polymarket US's 10 November filing with the CFTC lists different tiers, from 0.1170 to 0.0650, effective 6 November; at 0.1170 the order costs $8.03. The docs still showed their four-tier table on 11 November. Either way, as a share of what you pay the fee is Θ × (1 − p), so it weighs most on cheap contracts.
• Polymarket.com. Its fee page lists 0.05 for sports, but this market's own fee setting still reads 0.03, from before Polymarket raised the sports rate on 10 July 2026, and the same changelog says fees are calculated from that setting: 0.03 × 400 × 0.23 × 0.77 = 2.1252 pUSD. At 0.05 it would be 3.54.

The two books are not linked. A one-cent gap on a 22-cent contract is 4.5% of the price, about as much as the fee itself. Makers pay no fee on Polymarket.com, and on Polymarket US a resting order earns a rebate only from $10 million of 30-day maker volume. The Polymarket fees guide has the full schedules, and lowest-fee prediction markets compares them with other venues.

How to use Polymarket in the US#

1. Get the app. Polymarket US is on the App Store and Google Play, and its trading limits page covers the web at polymarket.us too. Both listings say 18+ only.
2. Sign up and verify. You sign in with Google or Apple, then give your date of birth, phone, legal name, address and Social Security number. Polymarket US says you must complete KYC before you can deposit or trade; most checks finish automatically, and some ask for an ID photo and a selfie.
3. Deposit. Card and bank transfers take up to $25,000 per transaction and $50,000 a day and can give you buying power before they clear, which takes 3 to 4 business days. Wires start at $5,000. Every deposit must come from an account in your own name.
4. Place a trade. Open a market, pick Yes or No, enter a dollar amount and swipe up. The amount covers the fee, and most markets trade in steps of 0.01 contracts.
5. Exit or hold. Sell any time the market is open, or hold until it settles at $1 or $0. Cash goes back to the card or bank you paid with; see how to withdraw from Polymarket.

Your state matters. Polymarket's App Store listing says trading is unavailable in Nevada, and Michigan's gaming regulator says Polymarket US will stop offering sports contracts there and close open positions by 25 November 2026. Polymarket.com's terms forbid using a VPN to get around its block. If you hold old positions there, Polymarket's own pages disagree on what you can still do: its undated developer geoblock page lists the US as close-only, while its help centre's geographic restrictions page, dated 29 October 2026, lists the US as completely restricted. Contact support@polymarket.com before counting on an exit.

How to use Polymarket outside the US#

1. Check your country. The help centre's geographic restrictions page, linked above, lists the blocked countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore, plus Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.
2. Sign up with Google, an email code or a crypto wallet such as MetaMask or Phantom, per its sign-up guide.
3. Deposit crypto. Choose Deposit, then Transfer Crypto, and send to the address shown for your chain. Polymarket's bridge converts deposits to pUSD on Polygon. Its live asset list on 11 November set the minimum at $2 for USDC on Polygon and $3 on Ethereum; the help centre still says $20 for Ethereum. Polymarket charges nothing to deposit, though a service like Coinbase or MoonPay may.
4. Trade. Buy Yes or No with a market or limit order. Your shares are tokens in your own Polygon wallet; Polymarket 101 calls the platform non-custodial.
5. Collect. After resolution, winning shares redeem for 1 pUSD each, with no redemption deadline. Then withdraw to any chain the bridge supports.

How does Polymarket make money?#

Through trading fees. Polymarket.com charges takers 0.04 to 0.07 times p × (1 − p) on most categories, nothing on geopolitics, and 0.05 on combos, and shares part of it with makers as rebates. Polymarket US charges every taker on a volume-tiered curve and adds a separate combo fee. Both fee pages are linked in the trade example above. Combos, Polymarket's multi-leg positions, are compared across venues in prediction market combos. For programmatic access to both exchanges, see the Polymarket API guide.

Is Polymarket safe?#

It depends on which one. Polymarket US says your money sits in a dedicated customer account separate from its operating funds. On Polymarket.com you hold your own funds, so a lost key or a hijacked session can cost you them: on 29 October 2026 a compromised third-party script on the site sold positions and moved funds out of some users' wallets, and Polymarket says it is returning $3.9 million. It now offers a withdrawal allowlist, covered in how to withdraw from Polymarket.

Polymarket alternatives#

In the US, Kalshi is the other large CFTC-regulated exchange; what Kalshi is covers it. Outside the US, Totalis is a prediction market app on Hyperliquid that trades HIP-4 outcome markets one at a time or as Combos of 2 to 5 legs, which makers quote and the Totalis vault on HyperEVM settles (how a Totalis Combo is quoted and settled). It lists far fewer markets than Polymarket, charges a 1.5% entry fee and 1% of profit on Combos (Totalis fees and limits), is not available to US persons, and needs an invite code. You can browse Totalis markets without one. For more venues, see Polymarket alternatives, the best prediction market apps and the list of prediction markets.

FAQ#

Is Polymarket gambling or trading?#

Federally, Polymarket US is a derivatives exchange: the CFTC designated QCX LLC as a contract market. Several states say its sports contracts are unlicensed gambling under state law, and Polymarket disputes that in court. Is Polymarket legal tracks each case.

Can you actually make money on Polymarket?#

Some traders do, but each contract's profit is another trader's loss, and fees come out of both. Can you make money on prediction markets looks at what the data says. Nothing on this page is financial advice.

Who owns Polymarket?#

Polymarket is a private company. Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed in October 2025 to invest up to $2 billion in it. Polymarket stock covers whether you can buy shares.

How much volume does Polymarket trade?#

Prediction market volume compares Polymarket with Kalshi and the other venues, and HIP-4 volume puts Hyperliquid's outcome markets against Polymarket International day by day.

Sources and further reading#

• What is Polymarket US?, accessed 2026-11-11
• Polymarket US fee schedule, accessed 2026-11-11
• Polymarket trading fees, accessed 2026-11-11
• Polymarket 101, accessed 2026-11-11
• CFTC filing 49571: QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US, accessed 2026-11-11
• Polymarket.com terms of use, effective 2026-08-11, accessed 2026-11-11