Bet on real-world events with Polymarket

Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market where you can bet on the outcome of real-world events using USDC cryptocurrency. You buy YES or NO shares in an event market : each share is worth $1 if correct and $0 if wrong. Prices between $0 and $1 reflect the crowd's estimated probability. All bets, settlements and payouts are handled automatically by smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain, with no intermediary.

Polymarket offers thousands of betting markets: US and global elections, crypto price movements, sports championships, breaking news events, Fed rate decisions, GDP data, tech company milestones, and much more. New markets open daily as world events unfold. If it's newsworthy and verifiable, there's likely a Polymarket market for it.

Creating a Polymarket account is completely free. There are no subscription fees or sign-up costs. Polymarket charges a small trading fee on winnings (typically 2%), and standard Polygon network gas fees apply for on-chain transactions, usually just a few cents. There is no minimum deposit required to start betting.

Polymarket uses USDC (USD Coin), a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, built on the Polygon blockchain. Because USDC mirrors the dollar, your betting portfolio is not exposed to crypto volatility on your balance. You can buy USDC via credit card, bank transfer, or by swapping from any other crypto on an exchange.

Polymarket generates revenue through a small percentage fee charged on trading volume and resolved winning positions. Unlike traditional bookmakers, Polymarket does not set odds or take the opposite side of your bet. The platform profits from facilitating trades between users, not from users losing their bets.

Markets are resolved by the UMA optimistic oracle, a decentralized dispute resolution system. Once the real-world outcome is known, a resolution is submitted and accepted after a challenge window. If disputed, UMA token holders vote on the correct outcome. This trustless system ensures no single party can manipulate how bets are settled.

Yes. Because Polymarket uses a central limit order book (CLOB), your YES or NO shares can be sold to other traders at any time before resolution. If odds shift in your favor after you buy for example, a candidate you bet on gains momentum, you can lock in profits early without waiting for the event to end.

Yes, you can withdraw your USDC balance and winnings at any time, with no lockup periods. Withdrawals are processed on the Polygon network and typically arrive within minutes. From there you can convert to fiat currency on any major exchange, bridge to Ethereum, or hold in any USDC-compatible wallet.

Polymarket is available in most countries worldwide. However, it is geo-blocked for users in the United States, the UK, and a few other jurisdictions due to regulatory requirements. If you are outside these regions, you can sign up and trade freely. Always verify the regulations in your own country before participating.

Polymarket operates as a decentralized, non-custodial platform, meaning you always control your funds via your own crypto wallet. Smart contracts are publicly audited and all activity is verifiable on the Polygon blockchain. The platform does not hold your money in a centralized account, which eliminates the risk of exchange-style hacks or insolvency.

Polymarket is widely regarded as one of the most accurate real-time forecasting tools available. During major events like the 2024 US presidential election and geopolitical crises, Polymarket odds outperformed traditional polls and media forecasts. The market's accuracy comes from the fact that traders have real financial stakes, money on the line incentivizes honest, well-researched predictions.

Profitable traders on Polymarket look for markets where they have an information edge, niche expertise in politics, crypto, macroeconomics, or sports. Diversifying across multiple events and categories reduces risk. Key strategies include identifying mispriced probabilities, buying early before a market gains liquidity, and exiting positions when odds shift in your favor.

A traditional sportsbook sets and controls the odds to guarantee their own profit margin (the "vig"). Polymarket is peer-to-peer: odds are set entirely by the market, with no bookmaker taking the other side of your bet. This results in fairer, more efficient pricing, especially on political and news events where sportsbooks rarely offer markets at all.

You can sign up with an email address and Polymarket will create a built-in wallet for you automatically. For more advanced users, you can connect an external Web3 wallet like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet. Either way, you maintain control of your funds and can withdraw to any Polygon-compatible address at any time.

USDC (USD Coin) is a regulated stablecoin issued by Circle, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. You can buy USDC directly inside the Polymarket app via credit card or bank transfer, or purchase it on any major exchange (Coinbase, Binance, Kraken) and transfer it to your Polymarket wallet on the Polygon network.

Yes. Polymarket has a fully optimized mobile web experience accessible via any smartphone browser. A dedicated iOS and Android app is also available, offering push notifications for market movements and breaking news events. You can bet, monitor your portfolio, and withdraw funds entirely from your phone.

On Polymarket, every market is binary, it resolves to either YES ($1) or NO ($0) on a specific date. There are no dividends, earnings reports, or underlying business fundamentals. You are purely betting on whether a specific real-world event happens. This makes prediction markets more accessible and faster-moving than traditional stock trading.

If a market's outcome cannot be determined, for example, an event is postponed or the resolution criteria become ambiguous, the UMA oracle dispute process is triggered. If no clear outcome is reached, markets can be resolved as N/A, in which case all participants receive their original bet back in USDC.

There is no enforced minimum bet, you can trade with as little as $1 of USDC, though gas fees may make very small trades less economical. There is also no hard maximum, though large orders may face slippage on markets with lower liquidity. High-volume markets like major elections often have tens of millions in liquidity, allowing very large positions.

Polymarket is a non-custodial, decentralized platform and does not issue tax documents like a traditional broker or sportsbook. However, your on-chain transaction history is fully public and traceable on the Polygon blockchain. You are responsible for reporting any gains or losses in accordance with the tax laws of your own country. Many users rely on crypto tax software to calculate their Polymarket P&L automatically.