Vardan Khachatryan
Polymarket in Minnesota
Contested for all event contracts, with no restriction in force.
- Sports contracts
- Available, but contested
- Other contracts
- Available
- Regulator
- CFTC: offers US trading through Polymarket US (QCX LLC), a CFTC-designated contract market it acquired in 2025
- Rulings and actions in Minnesota
- 1 on record, listed in the timeline
- Legal sports betting
- None, online or in person
- Polymarket's lawsuit
- QCX LLC v. Ellison, No. 26-cv-2841 (D. Minn.)
- Federal appeals court
- Eighth Circuit: has not ruled on the question
- Last change
- August 1, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
Open Polymarket USWhy Polymarket is legal in Minnesota
Americans trade on Polymarket US, not the international site. Its exchange, QCX LLC, became a CFTC-designated contract market on July 9, 2025.
Minnesota banned prediction markets anyway, with a felony law due to start on August 1, 2026.
Polymarket US sued and won the first round. On July 27, a federal judge blocked Minnesota from enforcing the ban against CFTC-registered exchanges.
That keeps Polymarket US open statewide, sports included. It does not settle the question. The judge said so herself, and her reasons shape what you can trade.
What you can trade on Polymarket from Minnesota
Polymarket US lists sports, politics, economics, crypto, culture and climate. You must be 18 or over and pass its identity checks.
The court's own list shows the range. It named contracts on control of Congress after the November 3, 2026 elections, and on the Super Bowl.
It also listed markets on award winners, solar flares, show hosts and whether a speaker will say a given word.
Those last kinds matter here. Minnesota's ban names pop culture and “whether a person will make a particular statement” among its targets.
The international site, polymarket.com, is not an option. It is close-only for Americans, and the CFTC does not regulate it.
How Polymarket works for Minnesota traders
Every Polymarket US contract is a yes-or-no question. It pays $1 if the answer is yes and nothing if it is no.
The price is the market's odds. A contract at 60¢ means traders put the chance at about 60%.
Say the Wild are 60¢ to win tonight. You buy 100 contracts for $60. Polymarket US charges a $1.67 taker fee.
If the Wild win, you collect $100, a $38.33 profit. If they lose, you are out $61.67.
The fee is 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price), rounded to the cent. Resting orders pay nothing.
You trade against other users on an order book. Polymarket US says it never takes the other side. Our Polymarket fees page has every rate.
What Minnesota has said about Polymarket
Minnesota wrote its ban with sites like Polymarket in mind. Coverage of the bill named Polymarket and Kalshi as the sites it would force out.
Governor Tim Walz signed the ban on May 18, 2026. A second law, signed May 26, rewrote it and dropped weather contracts.
It makes it a felony to run or support a prediction market, or to advertise one. Polymarket US argues the advertising ban breaks the First Amendment.
Minnesota's default penalty for such a felony is up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Attorney General Keith Ellison defends the law. “Prediction markets are gambling, plain and simple,” he said after the ruling.
He disagreed that the right status quo is one that “allows predatory gambling apps to proliferate.”
The Department of Public Safety would enforce the ban. Jon Anglin, who runs its gambling enforcement division, is a defendant.
Polymarket's case against Minnesota, explained
Polymarket US sued on June 3, 2026, in QCX LLC v. Ellison, No. 26-cv-2841. The CFTC and Kalshi had already filed their own suits.
Judge Katherine Menendez heard all three together. On July 27, she granted a preliminary injunction in each.
Her core finding: many contracts on Polymarket US and Kalshi likely count as “swaps,” under the CFTC's “exclusive jurisdiction.”
Her examples came from the menus. A market on who wins a Senate seat, she wrote, is tied to real economic consequences.
So are markets on the World Cup winner and on when Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal.
But she doubted that every contract on either exchange is a swap. So “any permanent injunctive relief may be much narrower,” she wrote.
Polymarket welcomed the ruling. “We look forward to continuing to serve our users in Minnesota,” said its chief legal officer, Neal Kumar.
Minnesota answered the complaint in August, and the case continues toward a final ruling. We found no appeal on the docket.
What could change Polymarket's status in Minnesota
Three things could. The first is the final ruling, which could narrow the order to contracts that are true swaps.
Culture and mention markets look most exposed. Those are the kinds of contracts the judge doubted.
The second is sports. The judge left open whether Minnesota's older gambling laws reach sports contracts at all.
Next door, a judge ruled in September that Iowa's laws likely do. Our page on Kalshi in Iowa covers that case.
Polymarket US has lost on sports before. Nevada won a preliminary injunction against it on May 29, 2026, and New York sued it on September 24.
The third is the Supreme Court. The circuits are split, and New Jersey has asked the justices to decide. Our litigation tracker follows each case.
Polymarket in Minnesota: timeline
Every change to Polymarket's position in Minnesota, newest first. Each entry links the ruling, law or filing behind it.
How Polymarket compares to sports betting in Minnesota
Minnesota has no legal sports betting, online or in person. Tribal casinos operate here, but none can take a sports bet.
That leaves prediction market apps as the only way to trade on a Vikings game from Minnesota.
The model differs from a sportsbook. A sportsbook sets the odds and takes your wager. Polymarket US matches you with another user.
Tribal nations backed the ban in court. They argued the markets threaten the gaming their casinos run.
Other prediction market apps in Minnesota
Kalshi sued alongside Polymarket US and has the same protection. See whether Kalshi is legal in Minnesota.
The order covers exchanges registered with the CFTC. Apps that only broker trades onto them are not named in it.
Here is where each app we rank stands in the state. For the full picture, see prediction markets in Minnesota.
| App | Status in Minnesota | More |
|---|---|---|
| Kalshi | Contested for all event contracts, with no restriction in force | Is Kalshi legal in Minnesota? |
| Gemini Predictions | Available, sports included | Gemini Predictions review |
| OG | Available, sports included | OG review |
| Interactive Brokers | Available; it lists no sports contracts anywhere | Interactive Brokers review |
| Robinhood | Available, sports included | Robinhood review |
| ProphetX | Available, sports included | ProphetX review |
| Coinbase | Available, sports included | Coinbase review |
| Webull | Available, sports included | Webull review |
| Novig | Available, sports included | Novig review |
| DraftKings Predictions | Available, sports included | DraftKings Predictions review |
| Fanatics Markets | Available, sports included | Fanatics Markets review |
| FanDuel Predicts | Available, sports included | FanDuel Predicts review |
| PrizePicks | Available, sports included | PrizePicks review |
| Underdog Predict | Available, sports included | Underdog Predict review |
How to use Polymarket in Minnesota
Download the Polymarket app, which in US app stores is Polymarket US, or go to polymarket.us. You sign in with Google or Apple.
Verification asks for your name, date of birth and address. Some users must also upload a photo ID and a selfie.
Fund it by debit card, bank transfer or wire. Wires have a $1,000 minimum.
Withdrawals go back to the card or bank you used, oldest deposit first. Cards and bank transfers take 3 to 4 business days.
Before you fund it, read our Polymarket review. Weighing it against Kalshi? See Kalshi vs Polymarket.