How to Use Polymarket in the US (2026): Sign Up, Fund, Trade and Withdraw

US residents use Polymarket through Polymarket US, a separate app from the international polymarket.com site. Polymarket US is a CFTC-regulated exchange that holds your balance in dollars and takes bank and card deposits. You need a Google or Apple account, your Social Security number and a few minutes for identity checks. The international site does not let US residents open new positions, so this guide is about the US app throughout.

Quick answers

• Is it legal? Yes, under Polymarket's CFTC-approved exchange, except in states that block it. As of August 2026 those were Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada and Ohio.
• How long does sign-up take? Most people are verified automatically within minutes.
• What can I fund with? Debit card, ACH, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wire or USDC.
• Is there a minimum deposit? None published for cards or ACH. Wires need $5,000. The new-user credit needs $10.
• Are there fees? A taker fee of up to $1.74 per 100 contracts at 50¢, as of October 2026. Withdrawals are free.
• Can I use a VPN? No. It breaks Polymarket's terms and can get the account closed.

Step 1: Check that Polymarket US works in your state

Polymarket's federal approval came in two steps. In July 2025 it bought QCX LLC and QC Clearing LLC, a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse, for $112 million. On November 24, 2025 the CFTC signed an Amended Order of Designation, announced the next day, allowing Polymarket to run an intermediated US trading platform (Covers). The app opened to a waitlist on December 3, 2025 and to all eligible iPhone users on May 12, 2026.

States are a separate question. As of an August 18, 2026 check, Polymarket US was not available in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada and Ohio (OddsShopper). Nevada's block follows a January 29, 2026 restraining order won by the state Gaming Control Board (SBC Americas). Tennessee sent Polymarket a cease-and-desist letter over sports contracts in January 2026. Minnesota passed a law against prediction markets, but a federal court blocked it on July 27, 2026, before it took effect.

Court rulings keep changing this list. The app checks your location before you trade, so let that check run before you deposit. Our state pages for California, Texas, New York and Illinois have more detail, and the legality guide explains the federal-versus-state dispute.

Step 2: Sign up

1. Get the app. Polymarket US is mainly an iPhone app. Download it from the App Store, or start from our sign-up link.
2. Sign up with Google or Apple. These are the two sign-up options Polymarket US lists. Use the same one every time, because switching methods can break things such as API access later.
3. Enter a referral or promo code now, if you have one. Polymarket US says codes must be applied during sign-up. A friend's username works as a referral code.
4. Check your username. Polymarket US creates one for you, and it shows on your public profile. You can change it under Settings, then Edit profile.

Bellwether earns a commission if you sign up through our link. It does not change the offer you get.

Step 3: Verify your identity

Polymarket US is a regulated exchange, so it must check who you are before you deposit or trade. It asks for (Polymarket US docs):

• Date of birth (you must be 18 or older)
• Phone number, confirmed by a text code
• Legal name
• Residential address
• Social Security number

Most people are verified automatically. If the automatic check cannot confirm you, the app asks for a photo of a government ID and a selfie. Manual review takes longer, and the app sends a notification when you are approved.

Use the name that appears on your bank account and cards. Deposits and wires from accounts in someone else's name are rejected, and wires from joint accounts are rejected too.

Step 4: Fund the account

Polymarket US lists seven deposit methods as of October 2026:

Card and ACH deposits also have a $2 million limit over any 60 days. Credit cards are not accepted.

To deposit, open the Deposit screen, tap Pay with (or Add payment method), choose a method and enter an amount. Card and ACH deposits give you "instant buying power," so you can trade straight away, up to a cap. You cannot withdraw that money until the deposit fully clears, usually in 3–4 business days.

For a wire, the app shows the bank details on the next screen. Put your full name and the phone number on your Polymarket US account in the memo field. Wires without it are delayed or sent back.

Our Polymarket funding guide covers each method in more detail.

Step 5: Claim the welcome credit (optional)

As of October 17, 2026, Polymarket US gives new users a $25 trading credit for a first deposit of at least $10, made within 7 days of opening the account (Polymarket US incentive programs). The campaign you get is the one tied to the code or link you used at sign-up, or the standard one if you used none. Only your first deposit counts.

The credit can be used to trade and to pay fees, but it can never be withdrawn. Your own cash is spent first. Profits above the credit become withdrawable once your deposit clears. Our Polymarket promo code page has the full terms.

Step 6: Pick a market

Polymarket US is mostly sports. Of 500 open markets we pulled from its public API on October 17, 2026, 413 were sports, 45 politics (including House and Senate midterm control and governor races), 30 finance and 12 culture. The help center also lists crypto price markets, weather markets and combos.

Each market is a yes-or-no question with written rules. When you open one, look at four things:

1. The question. For example, "Who will win the World Series?" with one contract per team.
2. The price. A Yes price of $0.62 means the market puts the chance of Yes at about 62%.
3. The rules. These name the resolution source and any special cases. Sports markets resolve on the league's official result. A game canceled with no make-up date can resolve 50-50 if the rules say so. Read them before you trade.
4. The bid and offer. The gap between the best buy and sell prices is a cost you pay to get in and out. On busy markets it can be a tenth of a cent. On thin markets it can be several cents.

As a beginner, start with busy markets on events you understand.

Step 7: Place your first trade

1. Choose a side. Buy Yes if you think the real chance is higher than the price. Buy No if you think it is lower.
2. Enter a size. You can enter a dollar amount or a number of contracts. Start with $5 to $50 while you learn.
3. Choose the order type. A market order fills now at the best available prices. A limit order sets the most you will pay and waits on the book until someone trades with it.
4. Review the ticket. Check the price, the number of contracts, the total cost, the fee and the payout if you win.
5. Confirm. The position appears in your Portfolio tab.

Fees. The taker, whose order fills against a resting order, pays 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price) as of October 2026. That is $1.74 per 100 contracts at 50¢ and $0.63 per 100 at 10¢ or 90¢. A limit order that rests on the book and is then filled earns the maker a rebate instead (Polymarket US fee schedule). The fee started on July 1, 2026 with a 0.06 coefficient and rose in October.

Your position can look slightly down right after you buy. Polymarket US explains that your cost includes the fee and that the position is valued at current market prices, which can sit a little below what you paid.

Worked example. You think the Fed is more likely to cut rates at a coming meeting than a $0.42 Yes price suggests. You buy 100 Yes contracts with a market order. The contracts cost $42 and the fee is 0.0695 × 100 × 0.42 × 0.58 = $1.69, so you pay $43.69. If the Fed cuts, you receive $100, a profit of $56.31. If it does not, you lose $43.69.

Step 8: Watch the position and decide when to exit

You do not have to hold to the end. You can sell at the market price at any time before settlement. The Portfolio tab shows each position's average cost, current value and profit or loss.

• Set an exit rule before the event. Decide in advance whether you will sell at a target price, cut a loss at a fixed level, or hold to settlement.
• Watch for slippage near the end. When an outcome looks nearly certain, buyers thin out. Polymarket US gives the example of a contract trading near 97¢ that fills at 94¢ when you sell (price slippage). Holding to settlement pays the full $1.
• Know what happens at settlement. Once the outcome is public, the exchange decides it using the sources in the rules, and Polymarket Clearing pays $1.00 per winning contract and nothing per losing one. Sports markets often settle soon after the official result. Political markets can take longer if they wait for certification.
• Mind the Thursday maintenance window. Polymarket US goes down every Thursday from 6 to 8 a.m. Eastern and cancels all open orders before it starts. Limit orders do not survive it.

What implied probability means

The price is the market's estimate of the chance of Yes. A $0.65 contract means about 65%. A $0.10 contract means about 10%. There is no separate odds number.

You make money over time only when your estimate is better than the market's. Suppose a contract trades at $0.65 and you have good reason to put the real chance at 75%. You buy 100 contracts for $65 plus a $1.58 taker fee. If you are right about the 75%, the expected payout is $75, so your expected profit is about $8.42 per 100 contracts. You will still lose the whole $66.58 about one time in four.

That gap between your estimate and the price, after fees and the spread, is the only edge in a prediction market. Our guide to reading prediction-market prices goes further.

How to withdraw

1. Open the Portfolio tab.
2. Tap Withdraw.
3. Tap Send to and pick a payout method.
4. Enter the amount and confirm.

The rules (Polymarket US docs):

• Withdrawals are free.
• Money goes back to the method you deposited with: the same card, bank account, Apple Pay, PayPal or Venmo account, or a USDC wallet on iPhone where available.
• Card and ACH withdrawals arrive in 3–4 business days.
• Wire withdrawals are not in the app. Ask support.
• You can only withdraw deposits that have fully cleared, along with profits tied to them.
• Withdrawals are processed in the order deposits were made, and all pass anti-money-laundering checks.

If a deposit is still pending after five business days, contact support at support@polymarket.us or through the in-app chat.

Taxes. Gains from event contracts are taxable. How they are taxed is not settled, so keep records of deposits, withdrawals and trades, and check what tax forms Polymarket US sends you. Our event-contract tax guide covers the open questions. Talk to a tax professional if you trade often.

Why not use a VPN?

A VPN can make the international site think you are somewhere else. Using one is a bad idea for three reasons.

1. It breaks Polymarket's terms. Getting around location blocks can get an account closed and its funds frozen.
2. It does not get you anything you need. US residents can use Polymarket US legally in most states. The international site lists the US as close-only on its website and API (Polymarket docs).
3. It puts withdrawals at risk. Accounts flagged for location violations are usually frozen while they are reviewed.

If you live in a blocked state, the only safe option is to wait or use a platform that is available where you live.

How Polymarket makes money

Mainly from trading fees.

• Polymarket US charges every taker the fee above. It pays part of it back as maker rebates and, for large traders, as volume-based taker rebates.
• The international site charges takers by market category, from 0.04 for politics, finance and tech to 0.07 for crypto. Geopolitics markets are fee-free, and makers pay nothing (Polymarket docs).

Neither product charges deposit or inactivity fees. Neither takes the other side of your trade.

Using Polymarket outside the US

The international site restricts many countries. Its list as of October 2026:

• Fully blocked (OFAC sanctions): Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, and Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.
• Close-only on the website and API: includes the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil, Russia, Belarus, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.
• Close-only on the website only: Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea, plus sports markets in Malta.

Countries not on the list, such as Spain, Portugal, Sweden or Switzerland, are not restricted by Polymarket. Your own country's gambling and financial rules still apply. Check the current list in Polymarket's terms before you sign up.

Polymarket's API

Polymarket US has its own API. Public market data comes from https://gateway.polymarket.us with no key. Trading uses https://api.polymarket.us with a key you create at polymarket.us/developer after your account is verified (Polymarket US API docs). The international site's APIs (Gamma, CLOB and Data) are separate, and US residents cannot place orders through them. Our Polymarket API guide covers both, with working code.

Common first-time mistakes

Making a small first deposit, then a bigger one. Only the first deposit counts for the new-user credit, and it must be at least $10.

Over-sizing. A $500 position with a $2,000 bankroll is too large for almost anyone. A common rule is no more than 5% to 10% of your bankroll on any one market.

Ignoring the spread. A market with a 70¢ offer and a 50¢ bid costs you 20 cents per contract to get in and out, far more than the fee.

Using market orders in thin markets. A market order for $1,000 can fill well above the displayed price if the book is shallow. Use a limit order.

Reading only the title. "Will X happen by June?" may resolve on a specific source, a specific time zone or a specific definition. The rules decide.

Forgetting fees on cheap contracts. At 10¢, the taker fee is 6.3% of what you pay. A small edge on a long shot can vanish.

Expecting fast withdrawals. Card and ACH money takes 3–4 business days to clear before you can withdraw it, and another 3–4 to arrive.

Risk

You can lose the whole amount of any position. If you buy $500 of Yes contracts and the market resolves No, you get nothing back. Trade only with money you can afford to lose, set your sizes before you trade, and do not raise your stakes to win back losses. If trading starts to feel compulsive, stop and call 1-800-GAMBLER, or see our responsible trading page.

Open a Polymarket account →

FAQ

Is Polymarket legal in my state?

Polymarket US operates under CFTC approval but was not available in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada or Ohio as of August 2026. The app checks your location before you trade.

Can I use Polymarket on Android?

Polymarket US is built mainly for iPhone, and Apple Pay and USDC deposits are iPhone-only. Check Google Play for the current Android app before you plan around it.

How long does verification take?

Most people are verified automatically within minutes. If you are asked for an ID and a selfie, manual review takes longer.

Can I cancel a trade?

You can cancel a limit order any time before it fills. A filled order cannot be undone; you sell the position instead.

Why can't I withdraw my money yet?

Card and ACH deposits must fully clear first, usually in 3–4 business days. Promotional credits can never be withdrawn.

Does Polymarket charge fees?

Yes. Takers pay up to $1.74 per 100 contracts at 50¢, as of October 2026. Makers earn rebates. Deposits and withdrawals are free on Polymarket's side.

Is Polymarket safe?

Polymarket US is a CFTC-regulated exchange that holds customer money in a separate account. The main risks are state rulings, account theft and resolution disputes. See is Polymarket safe.

How is Polymarket different from a sportsbook?

A sportsbook sets the odds and takes the other side of your bet. On Polymarket US you trade with other users at prices they set, you can sell before the event ends, and the exchange never bets against you.