Polymarket is a prediction market where people buy and sell yes-or-no shares on events. A winning share pays $1.00 and a losing one pays nothing, so prices read as the market's odds. Americans use Polymarket US, a CFTC-regulated exchange; the international site is separate.

How does Polymarket work?

You buy a market's yes side or sell it short to take the no side. When the event's outcome is publicly confirmed, the exchange resolves the market using the sources named in its rules, and winning shares pay $1.00. You pay a trading fee when your order takes liquidity.

Can you use Polymarket in the US?

Yes, through Polymarket US, which runs on a CFTC-designated exchange and opened its iOS app without a waitlist in May 2026. The international site lets U.S. users only close existing positions. By our records Polymarket US is blocked or restricted in Michigan and Nevada.

How does Polymarket make money?

From trading fees. Polymarket US charges takers 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price) on most markets; the international site charges takers by category and nothing on geopolitics markets.

Can you parlay on Polymarket?

Polymarket US offers combos, which join 2 to 10 markets into one position; every leg must win for the combo to pay, as in a parlay.

How old do you have to be to use Polymarket?

18. Polymarket US's terms require users to be at least 18, and it verifies identity, including a Social Security number, before you can deposit or trade.

Polymarket is privately held. Shayne Coplan founded it and is CEO, and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is its best-known investor. A reported April 2026 round valued it at $15 billion.

Guide

What is Polymarket and how does it work?

Two venues share the name: an international site and a CFTC-regulated U.S. exchange. Here is what you are buying, how a market settles, what it costs and the rules for Americans.

Reviewed Nov. 5, 2026 · Live figures update with our records · Sources are footnoted

The short answer

Polymarket is a prediction market where people buy and sell yes-or-no shares on events. A winning share pays $1.00 and a losing one pays nothing, so a price reads as the market’s view of the odds.^1,2 Americans use Polymarket US, a CFTC-regulated exchange; the international site lets U.S. users only close old positions.^3,4

Two Polymarkets

The original Polymarket is an international site. In 2022 the CFTC fined its operator $1.4 million for offering event contracts without registering, and Polymarket agreed to keep U.S. users out.^5,6 It still lists the United States as a close-only jurisdiction: Americans can close positions they already hold but cannot open new ones. Trading fees there are charged in USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin.^4,7

Polymarket US is the version built for Americans. Polymarket bought QCEX, the parent of a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse, for $112 million in July 2025, the same month the CFTC approved that exchange as a designated contract market.^3,8 An amended order in November 2025 let it work through brokers. Its app opened to a waitlist in December 2025, and the waitlist ended in May 2026.^9,10,11 The rest of this guide is about Polymarket US unless it says otherwise.

What you buy

Each market asks a yes-or-no question. Buying the market’s contract takes the yes side; selling it short takes the no side. A long position receives $1.00 if the outcome happens.¹² A price of 70 cents therefore means traders, on balance, put the chance near 70%; Polymarket US says prices reflect how the market views each outcome’s odds.² Under the exchange’s CFTC order, every contract must be cleared on a fully collateralized basis, so each contract’s full $1 payout is backed by collateral.³

Like other prediction market exchanges, it matches users with each other and charges a fee, rather than taking the other side of your bet as a sportsbook does.¹³ Whether that makes it different from gambling is the core of the legal fight: see are prediction markets gambling?

How a market settles

Polymarket US resolves each market after the outcome is publicly confirmed, using the sources named in that market’s rules. Winning shares pay $1.00 and losing shares $0. Sports markets usually settle soon after the official result; political and news markets can take longer when they wait on certification or official publication.¹ You can close a position at any time before then, at whatever the market will pay.¹⁴

What it costs

Polymarket makes its money from trading fees. On Polymarket US, takers pay 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price) on most markets, under a schedule effective Oct. 28, 2026, and high-volume makers earn rebates.¹⁵ That puts the fee on 100 contracts at 50 cents at about $1.74, and at 90 cents about $0.63. On the international site only takers pay, at rates that vary by category, and geopolitics markets are free.⁷

Combos

Polymarket US’s answer to the parlay is the combo, which joins 2 to 10 markets into one position. Every leg must resolve the way you took it for the combo to pay.¹⁶

Using it in the US

You must be at least 18.¹⁷ Polymarket US requires date of birth, a phone number confirmed by text code, legal name, residential address and Social Security number. Most users are verified automatically; others may be asked for a government-issued ID and a selfie check. KYC must be completed before depositing or trading, and the terms require KYC, AML and sanctions screening.¹⁸ Accounts can be funded by debit card, bank transfer, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or wire, and with USDC on iPhone where available.¹⁹

By our records Polymarket US is blocked or restricted in Michigan and Nevada, and we track 23 lawsuits naming it. Several states say its sports contracts are illegal gambling. Check your state on is Polymarket legal?

Who regulates it

QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, is a designated contract market, the kind of federal exchange the CFTC says may admit retail customers and which must meet 23 core principles.^3,20 In July 2025 it was reported that the Justice Department and the CFTC had closed their investigations of Polymarket.²¹ The full record is on is Polymarket legit?

Who owns it

Polymarket is privately held, so there is no Polymarket stock to buy. Shayne Coplan founded it and is CEO.²² Intercontinental Exchange announced an investment of up to $2 billion in October 2025.²² A reported April 2026 round valued Polymarket at $15 billion.²³ More in Polymarket stock, valuation and owners.

Taxes

A CPA firm found that Polymarket US’s participant agreement covers electronic delivery of tax forms including Form 1099-B, without saying which form a given account gets.²⁴ The IRS has issued no formal guidance on event contracts;²⁵ see prediction market taxes. If gambling is causing you harm, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.

Questions

What is Polymarket?: Polymarket is a prediction market where people buy and sell yes-or-no shares on events. A winning share pays $1.00 and a losing one pays nothing, so prices read as the market's odds. Americans use Polymarket US, a CFTC-regulated exchange; the international site is separate.
How does Polymarket work?: You buy a market's yes side or sell it short to take the no side. When the event's outcome is publicly confirmed, the exchange resolves the market using the sources named in its rules, and winning shares pay $1.00. You pay a trading fee when your order takes liquidity.
Can you use Polymarket in the US?: Yes, through Polymarket US, which runs on a CFTC-designated exchange and opened its iOS app without a waitlist in May 2026. The international site lets U.S. users only close existing positions. By our records Polymarket US is blocked or restricted in Michigan and Nevada.
How does Polymarket make money?: From trading fees. Polymarket US charges takers 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price) on most markets; the international site charges takers by category and nothing on geopolitics markets.
Can you parlay on Polymarket?: Polymarket US offers combos, which join 2 to 10 markets into one position; every leg must win for the combo to pay, as in a parlay.
How old do you have to be to use Polymarket?: 18. Polymarket US's terms require users to be at least 18, and it verifies identity, including a Social Security number, before you can deposit or trade.
Who owns Polymarket?: Polymarket is privately held. Shayne Coplan founded it and is CEO, and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is its best-known investor. A reported April 2026 round valued it at $15 billion.