Polymarket is

The World's Largest Prediction Market

Polymarket is the world's leading decentralized prediction market platform, where users can trade on the outcomes of real-world events across politics, sports, crypto, science, and more. Built on the Polygon blockchain and powered by USDC, Polymarket transforms informed opinions into financial positions, allowing participants to profit from accurate predictions while contributing to a collective intelligence layer for the world.

How Polymarket Works

Polymarket creates binary outcome markets for real-world events. Users buy shares in "Yes" or "No" outcomes using USDC stablecoins. Share prices fluctuate between $0 and $1 based on market sentiment, reflecting the crowd's implied probability of each outcome. When an event resolves, winning shares pay out $1 each, and losing shares expire worthless. Polymarket uses an automated market maker and an order book to ensure liquidity and fair pricing.

Key Features of Polymarket

Polymarket offers hundreds of active markets at any given time, spanning elections, geopolitical events, cryptocurrency prices, sports results, and scientific discoveries. The platform provides real-time price charts, trading volume data, and community discussions for every market. Polymarket's transparent, on-chain settlement ensures that outcomes are resolved fairly and payouts are instant.

Trading on Polymarket

Trading on Polymarket is straightforward. Users connect a Web3 wallet, deposit USDC, and browse available markets. Each market displays current odds, total liquidity, and resolution criteria. Traders can place limit or market orders, monitor open positions, and withdraw winnings at any time. Polymarket supports both casual participants and professional traders with deep liquidity pools.

Polymarket and Prediction Accuracy

Prediction markets like Polymarket have consistently outperformed traditional polling and expert forecasting. Because traders put real money at stake, Polymarket prices aggregate diverse information and incentivize accuracy. During major global events such as elections and economic announcements, Polymarket has become a trusted real-time gauge of probability cited by journalists, analysts, and policymakers worldwide.

Polymarket Election Markets

Polymarket gained widespread recognition for its political prediction markets, particularly during U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Millions of dollars in volume flow through Polymarket election markets, making them among the most liquid political forecasting tools available. Traders from around the world participate, creating robust and reliable probability estimates for electoral outcomes.

Blockchain Technology Behind Polymarket

Polymarket is built on the Polygon network, offering fast and low-cost transactions compared to Ethereum mainnet. All market contracts are deployed on-chain, ensuring full transparency and immutability. Users retain custody of their funds at all times, and no central party can interfere with market resolution or withhold payouts.

USDC and Non-Custodial Trading

Polymarket uses USDC as its native currency, eliminating volatility risk associated with other cryptocurrencies. Users deposit USDC directly into their non-custodial wallets connected to the platform. Polymarket never holds user funds — all assets are controlled by smart contracts audited for security and correctness.

Market Categories on Polymarket

Polymarket covers a vast range of event categories. Political markets include elections, legislation, and international relations. Crypto markets track prices, protocol upgrades, and regulatory decisions. Science and tech markets cover AI milestones, space exploration, and medical breakthroughs. Sports markets span major leagues and international competitions. Polymarket continuously adds new markets based on user demand and global events.

Polymarket Crypto and Finance Markets

Polymarket hosts a wide variety of cryptocurrency and finance markets, including predictions on Bitcoin price milestones, Ethereum upgrades, Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, and regulatory approvals. These markets attract sophisticated traders who use Polymarket as a hedging and speculation tool alongside their broader crypto portfolios.

Liquidity and Market Making on Polymarket

Polymarket relies on both automated market makers and an order book system to ensure competitive spreads and deep liquidity. Professional market makers provide liquidity in exchange for trading fees, while retail participants can place limit orders at their desired prices. This hybrid model allows Polymarket to support both small and large trades efficiently.

Polymarket Order Book and Pricing

Each Polymarket market displays a live order book where buyers and sellers post bids and asks for outcome shares. Prices are quoted in cents, directly reflecting percentage probability. A price of $0.65 on a "Yes" share means the market estimates a 65% chance of the event occurring. This transparent pricing mechanism makes Polymarket an intuitive tool for forecasting and research.

Polymarket for Researchers and Analysts

Beyond trading, Polymarket serves as a valuable data source for researchers, journalists, and analysts. Historical market data, resolution outcomes, and price time series are publicly accessible. Academic studies have used Polymarket data to analyze crowd forecasting accuracy, information aggregation, and the efficiency of prediction markets relative to other forecasting methods.

Polymarket API and Data Access

Polymarket provides a public API that allows developers and researchers to access market data programmatically. Historical prices, open interest, volume, and resolution data are available for analysis. Third-party applications and dashboards have been built on top of Polymarket's data infrastructure, extending its reach beyond the core trading platform.

Getting Started with Polymarket

New users can join Polymarket by visiting the official website and connecting a compatible Web3 wallet such as MetaMask or a Polymarket-native magic link wallet. After depositing USDC via the Polygon network, users can immediately begin browsing and trading markets. Polymarket also offers a guided onboarding experience for users unfamiliar with decentralized applications.

Polymarket Mobile Experience

Polymarket is fully accessible via mobile browsers, allowing users to trade and monitor markets on the go. The responsive interface adapts to all screen sizes, providing the same market depth, order placement, and portfolio management features available on desktop. Polymarket continues to invest in mobile usability to serve its growing global user base.

Privacy and Compliance on Polymarket

Polymarket operates in a decentralized model that minimizes data collection. The platform does not require email registration or identity verification for basic market participation. Access is managed through wallet addresses, preserving user privacy while maintaining the transparency of on-chain activity. Polymarket is committed to operating within applicable legal frameworks as prediction market regulation evolves globally.

Polymarket and the Future of Forecasting

Polymarket represents a fundamental shift in how society generates and values probabilistic information. By aligning financial incentives with accuracy, Polymarket creates a self-correcting forecasting engine. As prediction markets gain mainstream acceptance, Polymarket is positioned to become a core infrastructure layer for real-time decision-making across finance, media, research, and governance.