Polymarket Review

Polymarket is a large, real marketplace: over $10 billion traded in March 2026. The international site, run by Adventure One QSS Inc., says it is not regulated by the CFTC, and the CFTC fined its earlier operator $1.4 million in 2022. US users use a separate app run by QCX LLC, a CFTC-designated contract market.

Not on polymarket.com: you sign up with an email code, Google or a crypto wallet. Polymarket US requires full KYC, including your Social Security number, before you can deposit or trade.

Only takers pay, on some categories: fee = shares × rate × price × (1 − price), with rates from 0.04 to 0.07. For 100 shares at 50 cents that is $1.75 on crypto, $1.25 on sports and $1.00 on politics. Geopolitics markets are free, and Polymarket charges nothing to deposit or withdraw.

Winning shares redeem for $1 once a market resolves: about two hours after an undisputed proposal, or four to six days if the outcome is disputed and goes to a UMA vote. Withdrawals are on-chain from a non-custodial wallet. I have not timed one myself yet.

Polymarket lists 39 restricted countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Australia, Brazil and Japan, plus Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Using a VPN to get around it breaks the terms.

Other prediction markets and crypto sportsbooks that serve your country. My ranked list is at /sites-like/polymarket/.

Kalshi is the obvious one: a CFTC-designated contract market since November 2020 that serves US users, with full KYC and a taker fee of 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price). Polymarket's own US app, run by QCX LLC, is a separate CFTC-regulated product with its own account and KYC, Social Security number included. polymarket.com itself blocks US trading.

In the UK I cannot name one: Polymarket restricts the country, Kalshi's restricted list sits in a Member Agreement I could not open, and the Gambling Commission said in February 2026 that prediction markets would likely need a betting intermediary licence. In Canada, Polymarket's list blocks Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, not the other provinces.

Yes. A Brazil Presidential Election market was featured on the home page on 6 October 2026, with about $174 million in total volume. Brazil itself is on Polymarket's restricted list, so residents of Brazil cannot open trades under its terms, and using a VPN to get around that breaks section 2.1.4.

Not on polymarket.com. Withdrawals there are on-chain: you pick an address, token, amount and network, and Polymarket charges no withdrawal fee, though intermediaries like Coinbase or MoonPay may charge their own. Polymarket US lists debit cards among its funding methods, but I have not verified its withdrawal times. If card cashouts matter to you, Kalshi says its debit-card withdrawals are free and usually arrive within a few hours, unless a 3 to 5 business day processor review kicks in.

Of the two, polymarket.com is the no-KYC one: an email code, Google or a wallet, no ID step. Kalshi wants a government photo ID before your first deposit, and Polymarket US wants your Social Security number. Australia is harder: it is on Polymarket's restricted list, and Kalshi keeps its country list in a Member Agreement I could not open. I have not reviewed another prediction market that fills either gap yet, and using a VPN breaks Polymarket's terms.

Not on polymarket.com. Great Britain is on Polymarket's own restricted list, and its developer docs set the country to close-only, so you can exit positions but not open new ones. The Gambling Commission said in February 2026 that prediction markets would likely need a betting intermediary licence and that unlicensed ones must keep away from GB customers. Polymarket also bans VPNs used to get around its geographic rules, so a UK account would rest on breaking the terms.

Europe is patchy. Polymarket restricts Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia among others, and regulators in France, Belgium, Hungary, Portugal and Switzerland have blocked or blacklisted it. Kalshi says it is open internationally but keeps its restricted list in a Member Agreement I could not open. India is on neither of Polymarket's restriction lists, which tells you about Polymarket's rules, not Indian law. I have not reviewed another prediction market for either region yet.

Yes. On 9 October 2026 Polymarket's public API listed open markets on which party wins the Senate (about $6.2M traded) and the House (about $15.4M), a Balance of Power market (about $20.8M) and single races such as the Texas Senate seat (about $2.7M). They are set to close on 4 November. US residents cannot trade on polymarket.com, though: Polymarket US is a separate app with full KYC. Read each market's resolution rules before you buy.

Neither is simple. Polymarket blocks Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec; the other provinces are open under its rules. Kalshi keeps its restricted list in a Member Agreement I could not open, and Wikipedia, a secondary source, puts Canada on it. On 12 October 2026 neither iOS app was in Apple's Canadian App Store, but lookalikes such as Polymtrade were. In August 2026 Canadian securities regulators' staff said sports event contracts should not be regulated as securities.

Yes. On 12 October 2026 Polymarket's public API listed open markets on a US-Canada deal to lower tariffs (about $254,000 traded), the Bank of Canada's October rate decision (about $166,000), another Canadian election being called (about $100,000), the Toronto mayoral race (about $320,000) and whether Alberta joins the US (about $2.2 million). The catch: residents of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec cannot trade them under Polymarket's own rules.