Is Polymarket legal in the US? Two Polymarkets, one federal licence and the states that object
Two products with one name
Most of the confusion about whether "Polymarket is legal" comes from treating two different businesses as one. Polymarket launched in 2020 as a crypto-native market: users deposit USDC on the Polygon blockchain, trade yes and no shares that settle at $1 or $0, and never touch a bank account or a regulator. On January 3, 2022 the CFTC ordered the operating company, Blockratize Inc., to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty for offering off-exchange event-based binary options without registration, and to stop serving US users. Since then polymarket.com has geoblocked the United States, and a US resident who reaches it through a VPN is trading in breach of the site's own terms and of that order. Nothing in this guide makes that legal.
Polymarket US is a different legal animal. In July 2025 Polymarket agreed to buy QCEX, the Florida-based parent of QCX LLC, a designated contract market, and QC Clearing LLC, a derivatives clearing organization, for $112 million. The CFTC had designated QCX as a contract market on July 9, 2025, and the agency's industry filings page now records that "QCX LLC is now operating under the assumed name of Polymarket US." On September 3, 2025, CFTC staff issued Letter No. 25-28, a no-action position allowing QCX and QC Clearing to list and clear binary option and variable payout contracts without swap data reporting and certain recordkeeping, the same relief other small event-contract exchanges have received. Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, announced a $2 billion investment on October 7, 2025. Polymarket US opened to a waitlist later in 2025, dropped the waitlist in May 2026, and introduced its current fee schedule on July 1, 2026. It takes dollars, not stablecoins, requires identity verification and is open from age 18.
| polymarket.com | Polymarket US | |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Blockratize Inc. and affiliates, offshore | QCX LLC, a CFTC-designated contract market; clearing by QC Clearing LLC |
| US regulator | None; 2022 CFTC order requires US users to be blocked | CFTC, under the Commodity Exchange Act |
| Open to US residents | No | Yes, 18+, identity verified, subject to state restrictions below |
| Currency | USDC on Polygon | US dollars |
| Taker fee, sports, 100 contracts at 50 cents | $0.75 (3 percent rate) | $1.25 (5 percent rate) |
| Maker fee | None | None |
| Fee schedule in force | Fee Structure V2, 30 March 2026 | 1 July 2026 |
What federal registration does and does not settle
A designated contract market is the same category of licence that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange holds. The Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over swaps traded on one, and Polymarket US, Kalshi and Crypto.com's exchange all argue that their yes-or-no event contracts are swaps, that the CFTC alone decides which ones may list, and that state gambling law therefore cannot reach them. The CFTC under Chairman Michael Selig has agreed in court, suing or intervening against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. On October 9, 2026 the agency published an interim final rule excluding licensed casino and sportsbook bets from the swap definition and a proposed rule to write event contracts into it, with 30-day comment periods.
Federal registration does not, however, settle the state question, because three appeals courts have given three answers to the same preemption argument. The Third Circuit held in April 2026 that New Jersey likely cannot apply its gambling law to Kalshi's sports contracts. The Ninth Circuit held in August that Nevada can, because sports event contracts were not shown to be swaps, and in September that Kalshi's contracts are Class III gaming when entered from tribal land in California. The Sixth Circuit held on September 25 that Ohio and Tennessee can enforce. New Jersey's petition to the Supreme Court, No. 26-299, is pending with Kalshi's response due November 9, 2026. Polymarket US is not a party to any of those cases, but the legal rule in each circuit applies to any designated contract market making the same argument, which is why Polymarket US's position in Nevada differs from its position in New Jersey even though its licence is the same in both.
Where states have acted against Polymarket US
Polymarket US has drawn fewer state actions than Kalshi because it launched later and because Kalshi was the test case. The record as of October 2026 is below. "No action" for the other states means we have found no public enforcement step, not that a regulator has approved the product.
| State | What happened | Date | Effect on Polymarket US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | Gaming Control Board sued in Carson City District Court; Judge Jason Woodbury granted a preliminary injunction | Suit January 2026; injunction June 1, 2026 | Sports event contracts must be withheld from people in Nevada |
| Massachusetts | Polymarket sued the attorney general and Gaming Commission pre-emptively in federal court; Judge William Young stayed the case pending the state appeal in the Kalshi injunction | Suit February 9, 2026; stay March 5, 2026 | No order against Polymarket; Kalshi is enjoined on the same facts |
| Rhode Island | Attorney General Peter Neronha sued Kalshi and Polymarket in Superior Court; the CFTC sued the attorney general a week later | May 21 and 28, 2026 | No injunction; trading continues |
| Kentucky | Attorney General Russell Coleman sued Blockratize, QCX LLC and QC Clearing; a federal magistrate recommended remand to state court | June 17 and October 14, 2026 | No injunction; trading continues; Sixth Circuit precedent favours the state |
| Minnesota | Polymarket US joined the United States and Kalshi in suing to block the state's felony ban; Judge Katherine Menendez enjoined it | July 27, 2026 | Ban never took effect |
| Missouri | Attorney General Catherine Hanaway sent a cease-and-desist letter with a 30-day window | September 16 to 17, 2026; window closed October 17 | No public response; no suit filed by either side as of October 18 |
| New York | Attorney General Letitia James petitioned against QCX LLC under Executive Law 63(12); Polymarket removed the case to federal court | September 24, 2026 | No ruling; trading continues |
| Ohio | Casino Control Commission cease-and-desist letter to ten platforms including Polymarket | October 2, 2026; deadline October 16 | Polymarket said the federal government regulates it; no change reported |
A worked example: the same trade in three states
Suppose a trader wants 100 yes contracts on an NFL game at 50 cents, a $50 position, on Polymarket US. The venue's fee is contracts multiplied by the category rate, the price and one minus the price: 100 times 0.05 times 0.50 times 0.50, or $1.25, the maximum for a sports market because fees peak at 50 cents. If the yes side wins, the contracts settle at $1 each, so the trader receives $100 against $51.25 spent, a profit of $48.75. If the trader had instead rested a limit order at 50 cents and been filled as a maker, the fee would have been zero and the profit $50.
In Texas or Florida, which have taken no action against any prediction market, that trade is available and nothing in state law has been applied to stop it. In New York, the trade is also available today, but the attorney general's position in court is that it is unlicensed gambling and that the operator owes penalties of up to $100,000 per unauthorized sports-wagering offer; a win for the state would not retroactively make the trader a criminal, since New York's suit is against the operator, but it could end access. In Nevada, the trade is not available: the June 2026 injunction requires Polymarket US to keep sports contracts away from people located in the state, so the app shows no market to a Las Vegas user. The contract, the fee and the federal licence are identical in all three states. Only the state's posture differs, and that is what "is it legal" actually turns on.
How Polymarket US differs from Kalshi in the legal fight
Kalshi has been a designated contract market since 2020 and has fought the preemption question in every circuit that has considered it, so most of the law is written about Kalshi. Polymarket US inherited that law without having argued it. Three practical differences follow. First, Polymarket US has no injunction against it outside Nevada, whereas Kalshi is enjoined in Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada and Washington; where Kalshi lost in state court, as in Michigan, the regulators went after Robinhood and Coinbase next rather than Polymarket. Second, Polymarket US is a defendant in New York and Kentucky alongside Kalshi, so a ruling in either case binds both. Third, the offshore Polymarket's history matters to state regulators in a way Kalshi's does not: the 2022 CFTC order is cited in state briefs as evidence that the company has operated unregistered before, and the CFTC itself widened an inquiry into Polymarket's marketing and compliance practices in August 2026. None of that changes the legal test, but it shapes which company a state chooses to sue first.
What this guide does not cover
This page describes the regulatory position of Polymarket US and the status of polymarket.com for US residents as of October 2026. It does not cover tax treatment of event contract gains, which depends on how the contracts are characterised and is dealt with in our Kalshi tax guide, nor the tribal gaming question that the Ninth Circuit decided for Kalshi in September 2026 and that has not been litigated against Polymarket US. State statuses are from public court filings and regulator statements; we have not tested the app from each state and the venue's own geofence list is the authority on where sports contracts are shown. Fee figures are from the Polymarket US schedule in force since July 1, 2026 and the Polymarket Fee Structure V2 of March 30, 2026, as captured by River Markets in August 2026; schedules change. Nothing here is legal, financial or betting advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to trade on any venue.
Frequently asked questions
Is Polymarket legal in the US?
Polymarket US, run by the CFTC-designated contract market QCX LLC, is federally registered and open to US adults with identity verification. The offshore polymarket.com has been closed to US persons since a January 2022 CFTC settlement. Whether states can restrict Polymarket US's sports contracts is contested: Nevada has an injunction, New York, Kentucky and Rhode Island have sued, and the Supreme Court has been asked to decide the same question in a Kalshi case.
Can I use polymarket.com from the United States?
No. The 2022 CFTC order required Polymarket to block US users and wind down their positions, and the site's terms exclude US persons. Using a VPN to reach it does not change that. The product built for US residents is Polymarket US.
Which states block Polymarket US?
As of October 2026, Nevada is the only state with a court order against Polymarket US, a preliminary injunction of June 1, 2026 covering sports event contracts. New York, Kentucky and Rhode Island have lawsuits pending with no injunction, Ohio and Missouri have sent cease-and-desist letters, and Polymarket has its own suit against Massachusetts, which is stayed.
Is Polymarket US the same as Kalshi legally?
Both are CFTC-designated contract markets making the same preemption argument, so appellate rulings in Kalshi's cases set the rule for Polymarket US in those circuits. The practical difference is that Kalshi has four state injunctions against it and Polymarket US has one, and that Polymarket's 2022 CFTC order is used by states as evidence of past unregistered operation.
What does Polymarket US charge?
Takers pay a category rate times price times one minus price per contract, which for sports is 5 percent and peaks at $1.25 per 100 contracts at 50 cents. Politics and finance markets cap at $1.00, crypto at $1.75, and geopolitics is free. Makers pay nothing. Deposits are in US dollars.
Related
- Kalshi vs Polymarket fees compared: what a trade actually costs
- Is Kalshi legal in your state? The 50-state tracker
- Is Kalshi legal in New York? The $36 billion lawsuit
- How does Kalshi work? Contracts, prices, fees and payouts
- Odds converter: cent prices, American odds and the vig
Sources
- CFTC, Designated contract market filings: QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US, for the July 9, 2025 order of designation and the assumed-name note.
- CFTC, CFTC staff issues no-action letter regarding event contracts (Staff Letter No. 25-28), 3 September 2025.
- CFTC, CFTC orders event-based binary options markets operator to pay $1.4 million penalty, 3 January 2022.
- Yahoo Finance / Decrypt, Polymarket set to reopen in US after $112M exchange acquisition, 2 October 2025.
- Covers, Intercontinental Exchange invests $2 billion in Polymarket, 7 October 2025.
- SBC Americas, Nevada regulators secure injunction against Polymarket, 2 June 2026, and Polymarket pre-emptively sues Massachusetts AG and MGC, 9 February 2026.
- Bloomberg Government, Massachusetts Polymarket case paused as Kalshi appeals ban, 5 March 2026.
- DeFi Rate, New York sues Polymarket US over event contracts, September 2026; Gaming.net, Federal magistrate recommends remand of Kentucky Polymarket suit, 15 October 2026.
- River Markets, Polymarket vs Polymarket US, 9 August 2026, for the two fee schedules and launch timeline.
- CFTC, Swap definition interim final rule and event contract proposal, 9 October 2026.
18+ only. Prediction market contracts carry real financial risk. This guide is analysis, not legal, tax, financial or betting advice. If gambling stops being fun, help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.