Is Polymarket US Legal in the United States?

The short version of the legal status

Polymarket US describes itself as a fiat-based, US-regulated platform that operates as a designated contract market (DCM) and a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) under CFTC oversight. That makes it both the exchange where contracts trade and the clearing house that settles them, with the CFTC supervising both roles.

Its trading-restrictions page adds that Polymarket US event contracts are regulated event-based derivatives and are not securities.

Polymarket US is its own regulated product

Searchers often ask about Polymarket in general. Polymarket's own documentation describes Polymarket US as a separate product: a dollar-based platform built for US users and run under CFTC oversight. When you sign up through a US app link, you are opening a Polymarket US account, and that account is what the CFTC status above covers.

This page, and every offer we link to, covers Polymarket US only.

What CFTC regulation requires of an exchange

The CFTC's public page on prediction markets lists what regulation brings. Exchanges and intermediaries must clear a stringent application process and are examined periodically after that. They must follow core principles meant to prevent market manipulation and insider trading. Each exchange has to set and enforce its own trading rules and watch its own trading for abuse, with the National Futures Association and the CFTC adding further layers of oversight.

The CFTC also says regulated exchanges "do not take a side of the trade," and that customers "can trade in and out of their position prior to settlement at the current market price."

Polymarket US publishes its rules in the Polymarket US Exchange Rulebook, and its market-resolution page says all resolutions are final under that rulebook.

Is Polymarket US available in every state?

The CFTC's page says prediction markets are federally regulated and under federal law can operate in all 50 states. Polymarket US's own required disclosure, which appears in the promo block above, still says the product is not available in all jurisdictions, and that restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.

We looked for a state list on Polymarket US's public help pages on October 20, 2026 and did not find one. So we won't print one. The app checks eligibility when you sign up, using the residential address and other details you give it. If the app doesn't let you finish, that's the answer for your location.

How results are decided

Polymarket US's resolution page says markets resolve using "the specific sources listed in the rules." For sports, that is the official result published by the league or competition organizer. Its settlement page says winning contracts settle at $1.00 and losing contracts at $0.00, and that Polymarket Clearing "processes the settlement and updates balances automatically in your Portfolio."

Polymarket US says all resolutions are final under its Exchange Rulebook.

The exchange also publishes when it is open. Polymarket US runs nearly around the clock, with a weekly maintenance window every Thursday from 6am to 8am ET, and some markets keep their own hours based on the event.

Rules that apply to the people trading

Regulation also sets limits on who may trade a given market. Under Polymarket US's Market Integrity policy, you may not trade if you hold confidential information about the outcome that you owe someone a duty to keep, if you were passed such information by someone who couldn't trade on it, or if you are in a position to influence the result.

Some contracts go further. Polymarket US says certain markets bar people connected to a sports event, such as current and former players, coaches and staff, paid employees of the organization running the event, its owners, and their households and immediate families.

What being regulated doesn't change

Regulation governs how the market is run, and trading still carries risk. The risk line Polymarket US requires on every page like this one says trading is risky and that 100 percent loss can occur, and the CFTC says the same about predicting future events.

FAQ

Related guides

• All prediction market guides
• What Is a Prediction Market?
• Polymarket US Identity Verification: What It Asks For
• How to Withdraw Money From Polymarket US
• Polymarket promo code: the new-user offer and where to enter the code

Sources

• Polymarket US: What is Polymarket US?: https://docs.polymarket.us/getting-started/what-is-polymarket-us
• CFTC: Understanding Prediction Markets and Event Contracts: https://www.cftc.gov/LearnandProtect/PredictionMarkets
• Polymarket US: Trading Restrictions: https://docs.polymarket.us/learn/trading/access-and-limits/trading-restrictions
• Polymarket US: Market Resolution: https://docs.polymarket.us/learn/markets/market-resolution
• Polymarket US: Create an Account: https://docs.polymarket.us/learn/get-started/signup
• Polymarket US Exchange Rulebook: https://polymarketexchange.com/files/legal/latest/rulebook
• Polymarket US: General FAQs: https://docs.polymarket.us/faqs/general-faqs
• Polymarket US: Market Settlement: https://docs.polymarket.us/learn/markets/contract-settlement

All sources read October 20, 2026.

PolymarketPartner · Paid partnership with Polymarket. Polymarket US is for people 18 or older. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to make any trade, and any list of markets is information only and not a view on any market.