Polymarket
The largest on-chain prediction market
- Rating
- 5.0 / 5
- Type
- Crypto
- KYC
- Light KYC
- US access
- Via a US arm
- Markets
- Politics, Sports, Economics, Crypto
- Fees
- No trading fee: only Polygon gas (cents)
- Minimum deposit
- None (~$1 to start)
- Payout
- Instant (on-chain USDC)
- Payment methods
- USDC, Crypto, Card (on-ramp)
- Mobile app
- Yes
- Regions
- Global, LATAM
- Regulation
- On-chain (Polygon); US via QCEX (CFTC). Blocked in AR/BR/CO.
About Polymarket
On-chain liquidity is Polymarket's whole pitch, and by most accounts it has more of it than any other prediction market running today. Prices are set in USDC on the Polygon network and update in real time across politics, sports, economics and crypto questions, and anyone can watch them move without creating an account at all. Actually placing a trade requires only light identity verification, a noticeably lower bar than the full KYC regulated exchanges demand, and there is effectively no minimum since a position can be opened for around a dollar. That combination, visible pricing for casual browsers and a low-friction path to actually trading, is a big part of why it tends to be the reference point other prediction markets get measured against.
The US relationship is the part worth reading carefully before assuming Polymarket works the same way everywhere. Polymarket itself is not a licensed US venue, so American traders go through a separate, CFTC-regulated track that runs through QCEX rather than the platform's main international book. It is a legitimate way in, but it is a different front door with different plumbing behind it, not simply a US login screen. The platform also markets itself heavily toward Latin America and the wider global market, yet it is blocked outright in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, so regional coverage is less uniform than the branding might suggest.
Cost-wise it is about as lean as prediction markets get. There is no platform trading fee at all, just ordinary Polygon gas that typically runs to a few cents per transaction, and settlement is instant since everything clears on-chain rather than waiting on a bank. Funding works through USDC, other crypto, or a card-based on-ramp for anyone who doesn't already hold crypto, and both iOS and Android apps are available for trading away from a browser. For a trader comparing venues on pure cost and speed, Polymarket's numbers are hard to beat, even before factoring in the depth of its order books.