What is Polymarket?

Polymarket is a prediction market: a website and app where people trade on the outcome of real-world events. Instead of placing a bet with a bookmaker, you buy shares in an outcome, such as “Democrats win the Senate” or “Bitcoin above $100,000 by December”. Each share pays $1 if it happens and nothing if it doesn’t, so the price of a share tells you how likely traders think it is. It’s the biggest prediction market in the world by volume.

A real example

Here’s one of Polymarket’s markets right now. The percentage next to each outcome is its share price:

Say “Democratic Party” trades at 67¢ and you buy 100 shares: you pay $67. If Democrats win, you get $100 back, a $33 profit. If they don’t, you lose the $67. If news breaks and the price jumps to 80¢ before the election, you can sell early for $80 and lock in a gain.

How Polymarket makes money

Polymarket doesn’t take the other side of your trade; other users do. Since 2026 it earns money from a small fee charged to traders who take an existing order (takers). Traders who post their own orders and wait (makers) pay nothing, and markets on geopolitics are fee-free. The fee is largest on coin-flip prices, about 1–1.75¢ per share at 50¢ depending on the topic. Details are in our Polymarket profile.

What can you trade?

• Politics: US and international elections, party control, leadership races, legislation.
• Economy: Fed rate decisions, inflation, recession calls.
• Crypto: where Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and others will be by a date.
• Sports: championships, awards, individual games and, since 2026, combos (parlays).
• Culture and tech: awards shows, box office, AI releases, company news.

Is Polymarket legit?

Yes, in the sense that it’s a real, large and well-funded company. In 2025 Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to invest up to $2 billion in it. It has had regulatory trouble: in 2022 it paid a $1.4 million settlement to the US CFTC and blocked American users, and in 2024 the founder’s home was searched in federal investigations that were closed without charges in 2025. It then bought a licensed US exchange and won CFTC approval to return to the US.

The bigger day-to-day risk is ordinary: you can lose money, and some markets are worded loosely enough that resolution can be disputed. Read the rules of any market before you trade it.

Is Polymarket legal where I live?

It depends on your country:

• United States: the main exchange is off-limits, but Americans can use the separate Polymarket US app, which is CFTC-regulated.
• Restricted countries: the main exchange blocks or limits users in many places, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Australia, Brazil and Singapore.
• Elsewhere: available, subject to local law.

Our Polymarket profile has the full list from Polymarket’s own documentation. Don’t use a VPN to get around restrictions.

How do you put money on Polymarket?

On the main exchange your balance is held in USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar. You can send USDC from an exchange or wallet, or buy it inside Polymarket with a card. On Polymarket US you use dollars directly. Polymarket doesn’t charge to deposit or withdraw.

Polymarket vs betting sites

On a sportsbook, the bookmaker sets the odds and profits from the margin built into them. On Polymarket, prices come from traders, and the platform earns a small trading fee. You can also sell a position at any time, and winning traders aren’t limited the way they often are at bookmakers. See what prediction markets are for the full picture.

FAQ

Related: Is Polymarket public? Valuation · Polymarket US · Polymarket fees · How Polymarket makes money