Polymarket

Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market by onchain volume and, as of December 2025, is once again legal for US residents — but via a completely new regulatory structure than the one it operated under before 2022. The short version: after a 2022 CFTC settlement banned it from US users, Polymarket acquired a CFTC-licensed exchange in 2025 and relaunched a US-compliant product. The rollout is still phased in April 2026.

Overview

Polymarket is operated by Blockratize, Inc., a Delaware corporation, with an offshore entity that previously served non-US users. In July 2025 Polymarket closed a $112 million acquisition of QCEX, a CFTC-licensed Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization. In September 2025 the CFTC granted QCEX (renamed QCX) a no-action letter clearing the way for Polymarket to list event contracts on the US-regulated entity. In November 2025 Polymarket received an Amended Order of Designation from the CFTC. The US product went live on December 3, 2025.

Market Coverage

Politics (elections, confirmations, legislation), crypto (BTC, ETH, and token price targets), sports (expanding through 2026), economics and Fed policy, entertainment and pop culture, and a long tail of current-events questions. The legacy global Polymarket site has the widest menu in the industry. The US-facing product launched with a more conservative market list and is expanding.

Pricing & Fees

Polymarket uses an AMM-plus-orderbook hybrid. Historically there were no explicit trading fees — the platform earned on spreads and liquidity provision. Under the CFTC-regulated QCX structure, expect an explicit per-contract fee schedule aligned with other DCMs (1 to 3 cents per dollar contract).

Banking

The global legacy product is crypto-only (USDC on Polygon). The US relaunch via QCX requires full brokerage-style KYC and access through Futures Commission Merchants or traditional brokerages — no direct crypto wallet onboarding for US users. This is a major structural change from the Polymarket most people remember.

Ongoing Promos / Liquidity Programs

Polymarket has historically run trader rebate programs, liquidity mining, and referral bonuses on the global product. US-facing promos are limited by CFTC marketing rules — expect fee rebates and modest bonuses rather than "free bet" style offers.

Regulatory Reality

This is the most important section and worth reading carefully. Pre-2022: Polymarket operated offshore, accepted US users, and was hit with a CFTC settlement in January 2022 requiring it to stop offering unregistered binary options to US persons and to pay a $1.4M penalty. 2022 to late 2025: Polymarket geoblocked US users. Several states pursued additional enforcement, and a high-profile DOJ raid on the CEO's residence occurred in November 2024. Late 2025: Polymarket acquired QCEX, received CFTC approval, and relaunched US access as a regulated DCM product on December 3, 2025. Early 2026: The rollout is still phased — not all US users have access yet, and several states have pushed back. The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a civil complaint against Polymarket in January 2026 arguing that sports-related event contracts should be treated as gambling under Nevada state law. The federal CFTC approval is not disputed; the state-versus-federal fight is. Using the legacy global Polymarket site from the US via a VPN remains prohibited by terms of service and was the precise conduct the 2022 CFTC action addressed. Do not do that. Use the US-regulated QCX onboarding flow.

User Experience

Polymarket's interface is the best in the real-money prediction space — clean charts, deep orderbooks on top markets, and a news feed tying outcomes to headlines. The US onboarding via QCX is more brokerage-like and slower than the legacy crypto-wallet flow. If you want speed and DeFi convenience you will miss the old version. If you want regulatory certainty, the new version is strictly better.

The Bottom Line

Polymarket in 2026 is two products. The legacy global product is a mature, liquid, crypto-native prediction market — but it is not available to US users and you should not access it. The US-regulated product via QCX is the most important development in the category since Kalshi's launch, bringing Polymarket's depth to American users under genuine CFTC oversight. Expect rollout friction and state-level litigation through 2026. If you can get in, it is the deepest real-money prediction market available to US residents.