Trust & Safety Hub

Trust / Fairness / Transparency

Polymarket USTrust & Safety Hub

Polymarket US is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act, the same agency that oversees the US futures markets. The Rulebook is published in full.

What is a prediction market?

On a prediction market you buy and sell contracts on the outcome of a future event. The price of the contract is the market's view of how likely that outcome is. A contract settles at $1.00 if the outcome happens and at $0.00 if it does not.

  1. 01Market question

    Polymarket US lists a market

    on a question with a clear, checkable answer and publishes the resolution terms. Users cannot list their own.

    A clear, checkable question A question, its answer criteria, and resolution terms are published together. MARKET QUESTION YESNO

  2. 02Peer-to-peer trading

    You buy Yes or No

    at the price on offer. Another user takes the opposite side.

    Buying Yes or No Opposing orders meet. Another participant takes the other side. YESNO PEER TO PEER

  3. 03Market probability

    The price is the forecast.

    A contract trading at 70 cents means the market puts the probability at about 70%.

    The price is the forecast An illustrative 70-cent price aligns with a 70-percent probability. 0%100% 70¢70% PRICE ↔ PROBABILITY

  4. 04Market resolution

    When the event resolves,

    the profitable side is paid $1.00 per contract and the other side is paid nothing.

    An outcome, then a payout A winning contract settles at $1. A losing contract settles at $0. NO $1.00$0.00 YES OUTCOME RECORDED

Interactive example

Will the Federal Reserve cut rates at the next meeting?

Price to buy Yes60¢

The market is putting the probability at roughly 60%.

Yes + No$1.00Example total
Buy Yes60¢

Risk 60¢ to win 40¢

Buy No40¢

Risk 40¢ to win 60¢

Yes and No always add up to $1.00, because exactly one of them pays out. Move the slider to see how the price, the risk, and the payout move together.

Platform overview

Polymarket US at a glance

On Polymarket US, participants buy and sell contracts on the outcomes of future events, from elections, geopolitics, and financial markets to sports and entertainment, and trades are matched with other users, not the house.

At a glance
Polymarket US
US exchange
Overview

Polymarket US is a legal, federally regulated exchange in the United States. It is registered with and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act.

As a registered exchange, Polymarket US operates as a self-regulatory organization responsible for establishing, monitoring, and enforcing rules designed to promote fair, orderly, and transparent markets.

Who can tradeUS usersLegal nationwide**Trading currently not available in Nevada.
Your fundsFully collateralized, held under a regulated clearing frameworkTrades clear through QC Clearing LLC d/b/a Polymarket Clearing, a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization. Funds held under the clearing framework are not bank deposits and are not insured as bank deposits.
IdentityIdentity verification on every accountCustomer due diligence on every account.
The trading recordExchange books and recordsHeld by a CFTC-designated contract market and clearing organization.
Conduct rulesMonitored and strictly enforcedInsider trading and market manipulation, among other activities, are prohibited and monitored by our team of experts.
Governed byPolymarket US RulebookEnforced by the exchange, with trade practice surveillance, investigations, and sanctions supported by a regulatory services agreement with the National Futures Association.

Trading Rules

It is a violation of Polymarket US's rules to do any of the below. Insider trading, and trading by those who can influence the outcome, are strictly prohibited.

This system works because participants are financially motivated to trade on their expertise and intuition, and because they have confidence that no one is gaming the outcomes.

Polymarket US maintains and enforces rules designed to protect the integrity of those outcomes and keep our markets free from deceptive, manipulative, and unfair trading practices.

Do not trade on stolen confidential information.

You may not trade on any contract if you possess confidential information about the outcome or likely outcome of the underlying event, if using that information would violate a preexisting duty or obligation of trust or confidence you owe to another person or entity.

Do not trade on illegal tips.

You may not trade on confidential information that was passed to you by someone who owed a preexisting duty of trust or confidence to someone else, if you know or have reason to know that the person who shared the information would be prohibited from trading on it themselves.

Do not trade on an outcome you can influence.

You may not trade on any contract if you hold a position of authority or influence sufficient to affect the outcome of the underlying event. You also may not trade at the direction of someone who holds such a position.

Sample Scenarios

Scenario 01
You are an assistant coach on a professional sports team, and you learn that the team's star player has an injury that has not yet been disclosed to the public. The team has confidentiality rules that apply to you. Can you trade on this information?

No. The star player's undisclosed injury is confidential information that belongs to your employer (the team), not you. If you trade on this information before it becomes public, you are breaching a duty to your employer.

Scenario 02
Your friend is the assistant coach on a professional sports team and tells you that the team's star player has an injury that has not been disclosed to the public. Your friend tells you that they cannot trade on the information, but encourages you to. Can you trade on this information?

No. Your friend has a duty to the team to keep the undisclosed injury confidential, and you know that your friend cannot trade on the information themselves. You cannot trade on the tip they passed to you.

Scenario 03
You are a candidate in a state political election. There is a market on whether you will drop out of the race. Can you trade?

No. Because you control the outcome of this market, you are prohibited from trading.

Scenario 01
You sit in a park near the stadium where a sporting event will be held. From the park, you can hear rehearsals and you learn how long the pregame performance of the national anthem will run. Can you trade on this information?

Yes. As long as you do not owe a duty of confidentiality and obtained the information lawfully, you may trade on this information even if others do not have access to the same information.

Scenario 02
You are an amateur meteorologist. You have developed your own forecast model to predict major weather events using publicly-available data. Can you trade on this information?

Yes. Your forecast model is non-public information, but it belongs to you and is based on publicly-available data. You would not breach any pre-existing duty owed to another person or entity by trading on your own forecast model.

Scenario 03
You're following an upcoming election closely and want more information than what's publicly available. You hire a polling firm to run a custom poll using your own methodology and questions. Based on the results, you build a large position on the election market. Can you trade?

Yes. The poll was commissioned by you, with your own money and your own methodology. No one else owns that data, you created it. Acting on research you commissioned yourself is permitted.

How we monitor and enforce our rules.

All participants are subject to Polymarket US's rules and disciplinary procedures. Polymarket US maintains a multi-layered market monitoring program designed to detect potential rule violations.

Trade surveillance partners Trade signals from multiple sources converge in a shared monitoring record, where an unusual entry is flagged for attention.

Trade surveillance partners

Polymarket US works with third-party trade surveillance and technology specialists to monitor for suspicious trades.

Announced: Sports integrity platform with Palantir and TWG AI

Real-time control desk A live trading trace draws across a control-desk screen. A scanning line reaches an unusual spike and isolates it for review.

Real-time control desk

Polymarket US manages a control desk to conduct real-time surveillance of trading activity and identify unusual or disruptive trading.

NFA regulatory services A case record is compared against Chapter 8 of the rulebook. A review window moves through the evidence and holds on the relevant entry. 08

NFA regulatory services

A Regulatory Services Agreement with the National Futures Association (NFA) supports trade practice surveillance, investigations, and sanctions under Chapter 8 of the Polymarket US Rulebook.

When surveillance identifies unusual or potentially questionable trading activity, Polymarket US may initiate a review, open a formal investigation and, if warranted, pursue disciplinary proceedings. If a participant is found after investigation to have violated Polymarket US's rules or applicable law, sanctions may include suspension, monetary penalties, termination of trading privileges, or referral to regulatory or law enforcement authorities.

What user protections are available?

Polymarket US offers a handful of user protections, including self-exclusion, deposit limits, and mental health resources.

01Self-exclusion

Take a break

Take a break from trading for a term you choose, from one month to one year, or permanently. It takes effect as soon as you confirm.

Self-exclusion A chosen break closes the route to new trades for the selected term. CHOSEN TERM PAUSE NEW TRADES PAUSED

02Deposit limits

Set your deposit limit

Lowering a limit takes effect immediately. Raising or removing one takes effect after a 72-hour cooldown.

Deposit limits An allowance fills to its boundary. The next unit stays outside. LIMIT HELD OUTSIDE ALLOWANCEIN

03Prohibited-trader screening

Screened from the start

Every new account is screened against prohibited-trader lists. This one runs on our side and needs nothing from you.

Prohibited-trader screening An account is compared with restricted lists. A match is identified. NEW ACCOUNTRESTRICTED LIST MATCH FLAGGED

04Mental health support

A private path to support

Access to treatment for compulsive financial trading, through our partnership with Birches Health. Confidential, fully online, and can be covered by insurance.

Mental health support A person reaches out to a care provider, who responds in a private conversation. CONFIDENTIAL CONNECTION YOUCARE PROVIDERA PRIVATE CONVERSATION

These tools apply to new positions and new deposits.

You can close open positions or leave them to settle, and you can withdraw your available balance at any time.

Trading responsibly: educational resources

Eight habits that keep trading in control, written with Birches Health. Educational, not financial advice.

Polymarket and Birches Health resource page

Open the tips PDF

Polymarket US Community Guidelines

These rules cover market comments, market chat, Squads, profiles, and the Polymarket US Discord.

You can disagree with anyone here. Argue about markets, criticize politicians, say a price is wrong, tell someone their thesis is bad. These rules are about how you treat people, not which opinions you hold.

Don't

  1. Attack people for who they are. No slurs, no hate symbols, no attacks based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, caste, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, serious medical condition, immigration status, veteran status, or age. No denying mass atrocities. No accounts or Squads built around hate.

  2. Harass anyone. No targeting a person, no pile-ons, no following someone around, no coming back after they block you. Criticizing a public figure is fine. Going after a private trader is not. Abusing athletes, referees, election officials, or candidates over a market is harassment.

  3. Threaten violence or promote extremism. No threats, no celebrating harm, no inciting it. Don't promote or recruit for violent groups. Don't share extremist propaganda, including to condemn it.

  4. Sexualize minors. Real, drawn or AI-generated. No depictions of or communications relating to sexual contact with or solicitation of a minor. We report this to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement every time, on every surface, including private ones. There is no appeal.

  5. Post private information. No addresses, phone numbers, IDs, SSNs, financial details, or tying an account to a person. No intimate images of anyone without their consent. Don't try to get into someone else's account.

  6. Manipulate markets. No coordinating to move a price. No signal or pump groups. No trading on or posting of confidential inside information against our rules. No selling picks. No promising returns or calling a trade risk-free. No faked screenshots of resolutions, sources, or P&L.

    The exchange handles trading conduct under its own rules. A post can be removed here and separately cost you your trading access.

  7. Scam or impersonate. Don't pretend to be a person, entity, or account that you are not, including but not limited to Polymarket, our staff, another user, or a market's resolution source. Labeled parody is fine. No phishing links, fake support pages, impersonation of staff, etc.

  8. Spam. No repeat posts, no tagging markets your post has nothing to do with, no advertising, no false reports.

By surface

Market comments and live chat

Across the app and website. Public and fast, so this is where we're strictest.

  • Certain words and slurs cannot be posted at all.
  • Links are limited, and new accounts can't post them.
  • During busy markets we may slow chat down or tighten the filters.

Polymarket US Discord

Discord's rules apply first and Discord enforces them. Ours apply on top. The server has extra rules of its own.

We moderate public channels. We can't see or act on DMs between members, so use Discord's report and block tools, and turn off DMs from server members if you'd rather not be contacted. Tell us if someone impersonating Polymarket messages you.

Reporting, blocking, appeals

Report from the ⋯ menu on any message, comment, profile, or Squad. On Discord, right-click and report, or ping a mod. Scams go to #security-alerts.

Block from the same menu. You'll stop seeing that person.

Appeal with the link in your notice, or email trust@polymarket.us. You can add context, and we'll tell you why we decided what we did. If we got it wrong, we put the content back and clear your standing.

Don't try to handle a bad actor yourself. Report it.

Nothing here is trading advice. Polymarket US does not give trading advice. Posts are other members' opinions, not ours. Your trades are your own.

See something off in a market?

Polymarket US

Include the market link, the account, and what you observed. Partial information is still useful, and questions about the rules need no evidence at all.

The rules that set out what conduct is prohibited are set out above.

Report suspicious activity

integrity@polymarket.us