Vardan Khachatryan
Polymarket US
Legal nationwide under the CFTC. Open in every state but Nevada, with no sports contracts in Tennessee.
- Federal regulator
- CFTC: QCX LLC, a designated contract market since July 9, 2025
- Closed
- Nevada
- No sports contracts
- Tennessee
- Contested, still open
- 11: Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Wisconsin
- polymarket.com from the US
- Close-only: exit old positions, open no new ones
- Matters tracked
- 13
- Last change
- October 2, 2026
Each entry on this page links the ruling or report it rests on. Nothing here is legal advice.
Open Polymarket USCan you use Polymarket in the US?
Yes. Just not on the site most people mean.
Polymarket is two exchanges under one name. Polymarket US is for Americans. Polymarket.com is the international site, closed to new US trades.
Polymarket US runs on QCX LLC, which the CFTC designated as an exchange on July 9, 2025. That designation is what makes it legal.
It opened in December 2025 and dropped its waitlist in May 2026. Today it takes residents of every state but Nevada.
States are another matter. Some contest it in court or by letter, and in Tennessee it lists no sports contracts. The table below has each one.
Polymarket US vs polymarket.com: two different exchanges
Same name, same company. Almost nothing else carries over.
Your account, your money and your prices stay on one side. Each exchange has its own order book.
Polymarket US is a regulated exchange. You verify your identity, fund in dollars and trade under CFTC rules.
Polymarket.com runs on the Polygon blockchain and settles in pUSD, a USDC-backed token. Its own footer says the CFTC does not regulate it.
So a price you see on polymarket.com is not one you can trade from the US. Here is how the two compare.
| Polymarket US | polymarket.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can trade | US residents, in every state but Nevada | Most countries outside the US; close-only from the US |
| Regulator | The CFTC: QCX LLC is a designated contract market | Not regulated by the CFTC |
| Your money | US dollars | pUSD, a USDC-backed token on Polygon |
| Deposits | Debit card, bank transfer (ACH) or wire | USDC and other supported crypto |
| Sign-up | ID check with name, birth date, address and SSN | No US sign-ups |
| Taker fee | 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price) | 0 to 0.07 by category, same formula |
| Who settles markets | The exchange, from sources named in each market's rules | UMA's oracle; a disputed result can go to a vote |
| Prices | Its own order book | A separate order book, so prices differ |
Why was Polymarket banned in the US?
It had no federal license to sell event contracts to Americans.
In January 2022, the CFTC found Polymarket ran an unregistered market for event-based binary options.
Polymarket paid a $1.4 million penalty, wound down those markets and blocked US users from polymarket.com.
The story did not end there. Federal prosecutors and the CFTC later investigated whether Americans kept trading anyway.
In November 2024, FBI agents seized the CEO's phone in a raid on his New York apartment.
Both agencies closed their probes in July 2025 without charges. Days later, Polymarket bought its way back in.
How Polymarket became legal again
It bought an exchange the CFTC had already approved.
The CFTC designated QCX LLC as a contract market on July 9, 2025. Polymarket bought QCX and its clearinghouse for $112 million.
In November 2025, an amended CFTC order let futures brokers carry customer accounts on the exchange.
The Polymarket US app opened in December 2025, letting users in from a waitlist. The waitlist ended in May 2026.
Where is Polymarket legal? Every state
Polymarket US takes residents of every state but Nevada, where a court order bars it.
That is not the same as every state agreeing. Officials in 11 more states contest it, through lawsuits, orders or a new law.
None of those fights has switched the app off. Until a court or the app itself acts, the contracts stay open.
The table lists every state where Polymarket's status differs from its national one. Each row links that state's page.
| State | Polymarket US |
|---|---|
| Arizona | contested for sports contracts |
| Connecticut | contested for sports contracts |
| Illinois | contested for sports contracts |
| Maryland | contested for sports contracts |
| Massachusetts | contested for sports contracts |
| Michigan | contested for sports contracts |
| Minnesota | contested for all event contracts |
| Nevada | not available |
| New York | contested for all event contracts |
| Ohio | contested for sports contracts |
| Rhode Island | contested for sports contracts |
| Tennessee | not available for sports contracts |
| Wisconsin | contested for sports contracts |
Every other state and DC: open for every contract Polymarket US lists. How the other apps fare, state by state, is on our legality hub.
Is Polymarket legal in California, Texas, Florida and New York?
Yes, in all four. One comes with an asterisk.
California and Texas have no legal sportsbooks, yet Polymarket US offers sports contracts in both. Neither state has acted against it.
Texas senators are studying prediction markets, but their inquiry names no company. California's tribal lawsuit targets Kalshi, not Polymarket.
Florida has taken no action against Polymarket US either. Its residents get every contract the app lists.
New York is the asterisk. Its Attorney General and Governor sued Polymarket US on September 24, 2026.
The suit seeks to bar its contracts on sports, elections and other events. Polymarket US sued New York the same day.
No order is in force, so New Yorkers can still trade. Our pages for California, Texas, Florida and New York follow each state.
How to use Polymarket in the US
Four steps, all inside the Polymarket US app.
First, download Polymarket US for iPhone or Android. You sign in with Google or Apple, so there is no separate password.
Second, verify your identity. The app asks for your name, birth date, address and full Social Security number.
Most checks clear at once. A manual review can take 3 to 5 business days and may ask for a photo ID and selfie.
Third, fund the account in dollars by debit card, bank transfer or wire. Wires have a $1,000 minimum.
Fourth, pick a market, read its rules and place an order. A share pays $1 if you are right, and $0 if not.
Withdrawals go back to the card or bank you funded from, oldest deposit first. Our Polymarket review covers fees and safety.
Can you use polymarket.com with a VPN?
No. Polymarket forbids it.
Its help center says a VPN used to dodge its location block breaks Section 2.1.4 of its terms.
The block follows where you are, not where you live. From inside the US, the legal route is Polymarket US.
Polymarket US lists sports, politics, economics, crypto, culture and weather markets, all in dollars. Its prices come from its own book.
Polymarket alternatives in the US
Polymarket US is not your only regulated choice.
Kalshi was the first US exchange built for event contracts. The CFTC designated it in November 2020.
Brokers such as Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase route orders to regulated exchanges, from apps you may already use.
We rank every option in our best prediction market apps. The two leaders go head to head in Polymarket vs Kalshi.
What could change next
Three things could move the answer.
New York's suit is the biggest test. It reaches every contract Polymarket US lists, not just sports.
Ohio sent Polymarket a cease-and-desist on October 2, 2026, and gave it until October 16 to reply.
Ohio sits in the Sixth Circuit, which ruled on September 25 that state gaming law applies to sports contracts.
The Supreme Court could settle it for every state at once. New Jersey asked it to take the question on September 2.
Until then, check your state in the table above before you fund an account.
Polymarket's US legal record
Every ruling and state action on file against Polymarket US, newest first. Each links its docket or report.
The full list, with every app, is in our litigation tracker.