How to get started on Polymarket

Who can use it

• You must be 18 or older, according to the Terms of Service.
• Polymarket.com is for users outside the United States; US residents must use the separate Polymarket US app, which has separate accounts.
• The help center lists 40 restricted countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Russia and OFAC-sanctioned countries.
• The Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine are also restricted.
• In some restricted countries accounts are close-only: you can close existing positions but cannot open new ones.
• Access depends on your physical location, not residency; using a VPN to bypass restrictions is prohibited.

What you need

• A Google account, an email address, or a crypto wallet such as MetaMask, Rabby or Phantom.
• Crypto to deposit, for example USDC or other supported tokens on a supported network.
• A browser on desktop or mobile; no installation is required for Polymarket.com.

Sign up

1. Go to Polymarket.com and click "Sign Up".
2. Choose "Continue with Google", enter your email address, or connect a crypto wallet.
3. With email, enter the 6-digit code sent to your inbox; never share this code with anyone.
4. With a wallet, sign a message to connect it and sign another message to "Enable Trading".

Fund your account

1. Click "Deposit" and choose a method, for example "Transfer Crypto".
2. Select the token and network, then copy the deposit address assigned to your account.
3. Send at least the minimum amount; deposits below the minimum (for example $20 on Ethereum or $3 on Solana) stay pending until the total reaches it.
4. Deposits are converted to pUSD on Polygon, which is used as trading collateral.
5. Double-check the network and address; transfers sent to the wrong chain or address cannot be reversed.

Place your first prediction

1. Open a market and read its rules, shown under the order book.
2. Buy "Yes" or "No" shares; the price, between $0 and $1, reflects the market's implied probability.
3. Use a market order to trade at the current best price, or a limit order to set your own price.
4. Track open orders and positions on your Portfolio page; you can sell before resolution if there is a buyer.
5. When the market resolves, each winning share pays $1 and losing shares become worthless.

Withdraw

1. Go to your Portfolio and click "Withdraw".
2. Enter the recipient address and select the token, amount and network.
3. Click "Withdraw" to confirm; funds are sent to the address after processing.
4. Optionally turn on the withdrawal allowlist in Settings: withdrawals then go only to saved Polygon addresses in USDC or USDC.e, and every change takes 48 hours.

Fees (as published)

• Only takers pay trading fees; makers are never charged.
• Fee = shares traded x fee rate x price x (1 - price), so the dollar fee is highest at a 50% price.
• Taker fee rates by category: Crypto 0.07; Sports, Economics, Culture, Weather and Other 0.05; Finance, Politics, Mentions and Tech 0.04; Combos 0.05.
• Geopolitics and world events markets are fee-free.
• Polymarket charges no fees to deposit or withdraw USDC; intermediaries such as Coinbase or MoonPay may charge their own fees.

Key risks

• Losing shares become worthless at resolution, so you can lose the full amount of a position.
• There may not be enough buyers or sellers to trade the size you want without moving the price.
• Markets resolve through a proposal and a 2-hour challenge period, and outcomes can be disputed.
• Wallets are non-custodial: losing your private key or login code can mean losing access to your funds.
• Crypto sent to the wrong network or address cannot be reversed.
• Using a VPN to bypass restrictions breaks the Terms and can put your wallet in close-only mode.