---
title: "Polymarket Review"
url: https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/polymarket
kind: platform-review
updated: 2026-08-30
description: "Polymarket review 2026: how the world's best-known prediction market works, Polymarket vs Polymarket US, current fees on both venues, custody and safety, the CFTC probe and legal map, taxes, and how it compares to Kalshi."
publisher: AltStreet (https://altstreet.investments)
license: Public factual pages may be read, quoted and cited with attribution and a link. Bulk redistribution is not permitted.
---

# Polymarket Review

Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market by its own description — and it is really two venues under one brand: an international crypto exchange settling in USDC-backed pUSD on Polygon with UMA oracle resolution, and Polymarket US, a CFTC-designated contract market (QCX LLC) that relaunched US trading in December 2025 with USD accounts and rule-based settlement. Neither venue sells investments: every contract is a priced position against another trader. Between the $1.64 billion ICE has invested, an active CFTC probe opened in June 2026, a Nevada restraining order, and the same state-law war Kalshi is fighting, understanding which Polymarket you are using — and what each one's rules actually say — matters more here than on any platform AltStreet covers.

AltStreet score: 44.3 (C), scored August 30, 2026. Method: https://altstreet.investments/platforms

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Platform | Polymarket |
| What it is | Prediction-Market Venues (International Crypto Exchange + CFTC-Designated Contract Market) |
| Asset class | Prediction Markets — Binary Event Contracts and Crypto Perpetuals |
| Website | polymarket.com |
| Review first published | August 30, 2026 |
| Last updated | August 30, 2026 |
| AltStreet relationship | None: no affiliate, sponsorship or partnership |

## The short version

Polymarket operates some of the world's largest and most liquid prediction markets — particularly on its international venue — and documents its venues well — published rulebooks, complete fee schedules with worked examples, an open notice archive, open APIs, and (offshore) settlement anyone can verify onchain. It is also the only venue in AltStreet's coverage with a resolved federal enforcement action behind it and an active federal probe in front of it: a $1.4 million CFTC settlement in 2022, an FBI raid on its CEO in 2024, investigations closed without charges in 2025, and a new, broad CFTC probe opened June 26, 2026 over its marketing and beyond. The essential fact most coverage misses is that 'Polymarket' is two different products. The international venue runs on crypto rails — self-custodied wallets, USDC-backed pUSD, UMA oracle resolution where disputed outcomes are decided by token-holder votes. Polymarket US is a CFTC-designated contract market where retail users become their own clearing members, deposits are USD-only at an unnamed settlement bank, and fees have been raised three times in seven months. Nothing on either venue is an investment in a productive asset; the honest uses are hedging and information, and the honest costs are spreads, fees that now exist on both venues, and a legal map that is being redrawn monthly.

- **2 venues** Polymarket International (crypto: pUSD on Polygon, self-custody, UMA oracle resolution, restricted in the US) and Polymarket US (QCX LLC, a CFTC-designated contract market since July 9, 2025; USD accounts, rule-based resolution, live since December 2, 2025) are separately operated products with different fees, custody, and legal posture. An April 2026 application to let US users onto the main exchange is pending. Any analysis that treats them as one platform — including most of what ranks in search — is wrong somewhere.
- **$1.64B** Cash ICE (the NYSE's parent) has actually invested per its own filings: $1.0B Series D (October 2025), $600M Series E (March 2026), and a $40M common-stock tender — carrying value ~$2.0B after a markup, ~22% of outstanding shares, one board seat, and disclosed 'significant influence.' None of it appears in any Blockratize Form D: the issuer's own EDGAR record shows ~$226M sold across two offerings, understating its known capitalization roughly tenfold.
- **Θ = 0.06** Polymarket US's current taker-fee coefficient (since July 1, 2026) in the same formula family Kalshi uses — after three increases in seven months (1bp at launch, 10bp in January, 0.05 in March, 0.06 in July). The international venue now charges category-based taker fees too (crypto 0.07, sports 0.05, politics 0.04, geopolitics free). 'Polymarket has no fees' stopped being true on both venues in 2026.
- **110 notices** Polymarket US's complete exchange-notice archive — a genuinely transparent operational record that also documents seven-plus technical-issue notices, two market halts, and five compensation-credit notices in June and July 2026 alone, plus an incentive-program layer churning fast enough that two programs were withdrawn in August. The disclosure is excellent; what it discloses is a nine-month-old venue still shaking out.
- **$1.4M + 1** The 2022 CFTC civil penalty (operating an unregistered event-binary facility; US users to be blocked) — and the one active federal probe, opened June 26, 2026, reportedly spanning marketing practices (a WSJ review found roughly 70% of 1,105 paid creator videos showed simulated trades) and other operations. The DOJ and CFTC closed their prior investigations without charges in July 2025. Nothing in the new probe is adjudicated; it is also the only active CFTC probe AltStreet identified among platforms in its coverage as of August 30, 2026.

Data note: Financial data: Blockratize Inc.'s Form D record ($226.3M across two offerings, final amended figures) is ingested into AltStreet's data layer as filing snapshots; the ICE investment figures come from ICE's 10-Qs and prospectus (the only filing-verified source). AltStreet's markets pipeline collects Polymarket activity daily. Market-quality claims here rest on venue documentation and attributed third-party data — AltStreet's published 15,685-market microstructure study covered Kalshi only and is not extrapolated to Polymarket. Open-interest and volume comparisons are attributed to their sources and dates. Legal matters are pending unless stated otherwise; status as of August 30, 2026.


## Key figures

| Figure | What it is | Context |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2 venues | Polymarket International (crypto, restricted in the US) + Polymarket US (CFTC DCM, live Dec 2, 2025) | Different custody, fees, resolution, and legal posture; an application to merge US access is pending |
| $1.64B | Cash ICE invested per its own filings (~22% ownership, board seat, significant influence) | None of it appears in any Blockratize Form D; the issuer's EDGAR record shows ~$226M |
| 3 in 7 | US taker-fee increases in seven months: 1bp → 10bp → 0.05 → 0.06 | International venue now charges 0.04-0.07 by category; 'no fees' is stale on both venues |
| $1.4M + 1 | The 2022 CFTC settlement — and the one active CFTC probe (opened June 26, 2026) | Prior DOJ/CFTC investigations closed without charges July 2025; the new probe is pending, not adjudicated |


## Verdict

Polymarket runs some of the world's largest and most liquid prediction markets across two very different venues, documents both well, and carries the heaviest conduct file in AltStreet's prediction-market coverage: a 2022 federal settlement behind it, an active CFTC probe in front of it, a Nevada injunction, and the same state war Kalshi is fighting — against the strongest institutional endorsement in the category, ICE's $1.64 billion and a board seat. Nothing on either venue is an investment in a productive asset, and 'no fees' stopped being true on both in 2026. For US users, the practical product is Polymarket US: a nine-month-old regulated venue with USD custody at an unnamed bank, harder terms than its FAQ suggests, and a fee schedule that has moved three times in seven months. For everyone, the durable value is the information: event prices among the most cited in the world, free to read. Trade it only knowing which venue you are on, what its rulebook actually reserves, and what its resolution rules actually say.

**Best for**

- Information consumers: the probabilities are free, open via API, and among the most widely cited event prices anywhere
- Hedgers with a specific event exposure, on the venue they are eligible for, after checking depth at size and resolution rules
- Readers of primary documents: both venues publish rulebooks, complete fee schedules with worked examples, and (US) a full notice archive
- Traders who want maker rebates: Polymarket US pays makers, and the international venue never charges them

**Look elsewhere if**

- You are looking for an investment, yield, or a durable trading edge
- You are a US person tempted to use the international venue, or a resident of a litigating state (Nevada is enjoined now)
- You need named-bank, insured, or refundable custody — neither venue offers it
- You would trade offshore perps, or sports at stakes that matter, with money you cannot lose entirely

**Strengths**

- Among the largest and most liquid prediction markets anywhere, with settlement that is independently verifiable onchain (international venue)
- Strong product documentation on both venues: rulebooks, fee schedules with worked examples, a complete 110-notice archive, open APIs
- Real US regulation since December 2025: CFTC-designated exchange and clearinghouse, segregated USD accounts, rule-based resolution, 1099-B reporting
- Filing-verified institutional oversight: ICE's ~22% stake, board seat, and significant influence, disclosed in ICE's 10-Qs
- Genuinely useful free information layer, distributed globally through ICE, X, and Stocktwits

**Limitations**

- Conduct record unique in this coverage: a resolved 2022 CFTC settlement and an active, broad CFTC probe (June 2026) — pending, not adjudicated
- Two-venue complexity that most users (and most published guides) get wrong, with US access to the deep venue still pending
- Custody gaps: unnamed US settlement bank, no disclosed insurance treatment, no-refund and float-retention clauses; self-custody on unregulated rails offshore
- Fee instability: three US taker increases in seven months, churning incentive programs, confidential fee exhibits
- No financial statements anywhere in the stack, and an issuer EDGAR record that omits the company's largest financing


## Who it fits

| Investor | Fit | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alternative-asset investors hedging specific event exposures | neutral |  |
| Traders looking for an edge in prediction markets | poor-fit |  |
| Sports bettors drawn by the exchange model | poor-fit |  |
| Information consumers and researchers | neutral |  |
| Investors considering the pre-IPO SPVs (Hiive, MW LSV, and others) | neutral |  |
| Crypto traders eyeing the international venue and its perpetuals | poor-fit |  |


## Questions

**What is Polymarket and how does it work?**

Polymarket is widely described — including by itself — as the world's largest prediction market: you trade yes/no contracts on real-world outcomes — elections, sports, economics, crypto, culture — priced between $0.01 and $0.99, settling at $1 if you're right and $0 if you're wrong, against other traders on an order book. It operates two separate venues: the international exchange runs on crypto rails (self-custodied wallets, USDC-backed pUSD on Polygon, UMA oracle resolution) and is restricted in the US, while Polymarket US is a CFTC-regulated exchange (QCX LLC) with USD accounts, KYC, and rule-based settlement that launched December 2, 2025. Both venues now charge taker fees. It is a trading venue, not an investment platform: nothing pays yield, and every dollar won is another trader's dollar lost.

**Is Polymarket legal in the US?**

Polymarket US is — it operates under a CFTC designation (QCX LLC, designated July 9, 2025) and relaunched for US users on December 2, 2025, though it is unavailable in Nevada under a January 2026 restraining order and several states are litigating event contracts generally (Rhode Island sued both Polymarket and Kalshi in May 2026; Kentucky sued in June). The international venue is a different matter: it remains restricted to US users — the 2022 CFTC settlement required exactly that — and an application filed April 28, 2026 to let US users onto the main exchange is still pending. So the precise answer is: the US product is legal federally with active state fights; using the offshore product from the US violates its terms and the history of enforcement here is real.

**What is the difference between Polymarket and Polymarket US?**

They are separately operated venues under one brand. Polymarket International is the original crypto exchange: funds live in your own wallet as pUSD (a USDC-backed token on Polygon), outcomes resolve through the UMA Optimistic Oracle (disputed cases are decided by token-holder votes), fees are taker-only by category (0.04-0.07, geopolitics free), and US users are restricted. Polymarket US (QCX LLC) is a CFTC-designated contract market: USD-only deposits into segregated accounts, retail users become their own clearing members, resolution follows each contract's published rules, fees are 0.06 × C × p × (1 − p) for takers with maker rebates, and you get a 1099-B. Custody, fees, resolution, taxes, and legal exposure all differ — most guides that treat 'Polymarket' as one platform are wrong about at least one of these.

**Is Polymarket gambling or investing?**

Neither label fits cleanly. It is clearly not investing in the portfolio sense: event contracts create no ownership interest, yield, or claim on any asset — they are zero-sum derivative positions against other traders. Whether the sports contracts are legally gambling is the exact question in litigation across the category: Nevada's regulator won a restraining order against Polymarket, Rhode Island and Kentucky are suing, Polymarket has preemption suits pending against three states, and the federal circuits split on the same question in the Kalshi cases in 2026. Economically, hedging a real exposure with an event contract is risk transfer; buying sports parlays is wagering-like zero-sum economics on exchange rails, and should be sized accordingly whatever the courts decide.

**Can you make money on Polymarket?**

Some traders do — it is a zero-sum market, so every winner is matched by a loser, now minus fees on both venues. The honest base case: Polymarket's prices are widely cited precisely because they aggregate information well, which makes durable edges rare; absent a genuine informational or structural edge, expect a zero-sum payoff before costs and a negative return after fees and the spread. AltStreet's own 15,685-market microstructure study — which found four apparent edges that all dissolved as sampling artifacts — analyzed Kalshi, not Polymarket, so we do not extrapolate it here; the zero-sum arithmetic, however, is venue-independent. The defensible uses are information and hedging, not profit-seeking.

**Is my money safe on Polymarket?**

It depends entirely on which venue. On the international venue, you custody your own funds: pUSD in your wallet, USDC backing enforced by audited smart contracts (with an admin pause gate) — no bank, no insurance, no regulator; wallet security is your job. On Polymarket US, funds are USD in a segregated Member Property Account under CFTC segregation rules — but the settlement bank is not named in any public document, no deposit-insurance treatment is disclosed, the participant agreement contains a no-refund clause, and the clearing rulebook lets the clearinghouse invest or commingle member cash without notice and retain the profits, and decline withdrawals for its own protection. The FAQ's assurance that Polymarket US 'cannot access or use your money' should be read alongside those reserved powers; the rulebook is the binding document.

**What are Polymarket's fees?**

Both venues now charge trading fees — the 'no fees' era ended in 2026. Polymarket US (since July 1, 2026): takers pay 0.06 × contracts × price × (1 − price), peaking at $1.50 per 100 contracts at 50¢; makers receive a rebate (−0.0125, up to $0.31 per 100); high-volume takers earn 10-50% rebates, and there's an 'Accelerated Tier' honoring proof of volume on another prediction market. The international venue charges takers by category — crypto 0.07 ($1.75 per 100 at 50¢, the same as Kalshi's standard), sports and economics 0.05 ($1.25), politics and finance 0.04 ($1.00), geopolitics free — and never charges makers; USDC deposits and withdrawals carry no venue fee. All formulas peak at 50¢ because p(1−p) is largest there. On thin markets, the spread usually costs more than the fee.

**How does Polymarket make money?**

Four documented ways. Trading fees, now on both venues (the US taker fee has been raised three times in seven months; the international venue charges 0.04-0.07 by category). Data distribution: ICE — which invested $1.64 billion and holds about 22% of the company — distributes Polymarket's event-driven data to institutional customers globally. Technology licensing: SEGG's Sports.com Predict runs exclusively on Polymarket's stack under a revenue-share through 2029, and Polymarket is the official prediction-market partner of X and Stocktwits. And float: the US clearing rulebook explicitly reserves the right to invest member cash and retain the profits. What each stream earns is unknown — no entity in the stack publishes financial statements.

**What happened with the FBI raid and the CFTC investigations?**

Three separate chapters. In January 2022, Polymarket's parent Blockratize settled with the CFTC for $1.4 million over operating an unregistered event-binary facility and agreed to block US users. In November 2024, days after the election, the FBI raided CEO Shayne Coplan's home as the DOJ investigated whether US users had kept trading; the DOJ and CFTC closed those investigations without charges on July 15, 2025. Then on June 26, 2026, the CFTC opened a new, broad probe — first reported by the Wall Street Journal, whose review of 1,105 paid promotional videos found roughly 70% showed simulated trades presented as real wins — extending beyond marketing into other operations. The new probe is pending and is not an enforcement action; it is also the only active CFTC probe AltStreet identified among platforms in its coverage as of August 30, 2026.

**How are Polymarket winnings taxed?**

By venue. Polymarket US delivers IRS Form 1099-B electronically (it's in the participant agreement), and the open question is character — whether event contracts get Section 1256's 60/40 futures treatment or ordinary treatment is unsettled among practitioners, the same debate as on Kalshi. The international venue sends no US tax forms at all, and because trading runs through pUSD/USDC, crypto property-transaction treatment can layer on top of the trading gains themselves — genuinely messier, with the full recordkeeping burden on you. Both venues' APIs export complete trade histories; do that, and resolve treatment with a tax adviser before trading at scale.

**Polymarket vs Kalshi — what's the difference?**

Three surfaces, not two. Kalshi is one US-regulated stack (CFTC exchange, bank custody at a named bank, 1099s, a steady 0.07 fee formula). Polymarket is two venues: the international crypto exchange (among the largest and most liquid event markets anywhere, self-custody, UMA resolution, 0.04-0.07 category fees, US-restricted) and Polymarket US (CFTC-designated, USD custody at an unnamed bank, 0.06 taker fee with maker rebates after three increases in seven months). At 50¢, 100 contracts cost $1.75 in taker fees on Kalshi, $1.50 on Polymarket US, and $1.00-$1.75 (or $0 in geopolitics) internationally. Attributed June 2026 open interest ran ~$1.02B on Kalshi versus ~$488.5M international and ~$91.6M on Polymarket US — while July volume data showed Kalshi leading; the liquidity answer depends on the metric. Conduct records differ sharply: our Kalshi scan located no CFTC action; Polymarket has a 2022 settlement and an active probe. And identical-looking markets can resolve differently — compare resolution rules before comparing prices. AltStreet's full Kalshi review covers the other side of this comparison.

**Can you arbitrage Polymarket and Kalshi?**

Price gaps between the venues exist and traders pursue them — but a same-titled market is not the same contract. Before treating a combined YES+NO price below $1 as arbitrage, verify: the exact question wording, the deadline and time zone, the resolution source (UMA proposals and token-holder votes on Polymarket International; contract rules on Polymarket US; exchange rules on Kalshi), edge-case and clarification language, the bid/ask and depth at your size (not the last trade), both venues' fees, halt and cancellation rules, and whether you can even legally hold both legs from your jurisdiction. Differently resolving contracts turn 'arbitrage' into basis risk with two sets of costs — the trade is real only after the rules match.

**Who owns Polymarket?**

Blockratize Inc., a private New York-based company founded by CEO Shayne Coplan, doing business as Polymarket; it owns the international venue and, since the July 2025 QCEX acquisition (reported at $112 million), the US-regulated QCX exchange and QC Clearing clearinghouse. Its disclosed Form D record shows about $226 million raised across two offerings — but the dominant outside shareholder is ICE, the NYSE's parent, which per its own filings invested $1.64 billion for roughly 22% of outstanding shares, one board seat, and 'significant influence.' No financial statements are published; press-reported valuations ($8 billion pre-money at ICE's 2025 entry, higher figures since) appear in no Blockratize filing. An active SPV ecosystem — eight Hiive series, MW LSV, Dominari, and others — resells its equity to accredited investors.


## Evidence appendix

Platform website captured August 30, 2026.

Review synthesized from: (1) primary venue documents — the Polymarket US Exchange Rulebook and Polymarket Clearing Rulebook (August 2026), the Individual Participant and Clearing Member Agreement (v1.4, August 6, 2026) read in full, the Risk Disclosure Statement, the complete 110-notice archive (every fee filing, incentive program, technical issue, halt, and compensation credit since the August 2025 rule submissions), and both venues' documentation sites captured August 30, 2026 (fees with worked examples, resolution, custody, deposits, restrictions, perpetuals); (2) regulatory records — CFTC DCM designation of QCX LLC (July 9, 2025) and rule filings; the 2022 CFTC settlement; (3) EDGAR — Blockratize Inc.'s complete Form D record, ICE's Q1/Q2 2026 10-Qs, November 2025 prospectus, and October 2025 press exhibit (the only filing-verified source for the investment), and SEGG Media's April 2026 8-K; (4) court records and attributed press for the state and federal proceedings, with both sides carried and pending status stated; (5) a 107-page Firecrawl capture of polymarket.com; (6) attributed third-party market data (Allium, The Block) with metric and date stated. AltStreet's own microstructure study covered Kalshi only and is cited solely as category context.

**Highlights**

- CONFIRMED (EDGAR): Blockratize Inc. Form Ds — $86,187,000 offered / $82,203,608 sold to 28 investors (D, 2024-10-18; first sale 2024-10-04), amended to $91,203,500 / $90,948,943 / 41 investors (D/A, 2025-02-25); new offering $257,535,911 offered / $135,373,939 sold / 23 investors (D, 2025-08-01). All Rule 506(b). Final-figures total: ~$226.3M across two offerings. No filing after 2025-08-01 exists.
- CONFIRMED (ICE 10-Qs, Q1+Q2 2026): $1.0B for 9.6M Series D preferred shares (Oct 7, 2025; ~17%/11% of outstanding/fully diluted at investment; 6% non-cumulative dividend if declared; board nomination right); $600M for ~4.2M Series E shares (Mar 26, 2026) — an observable price change on which ICE recorded a $389M gain; $40M common tender (April 2026) after which ICE concluded 'significant influence' and applies equity-method accounting to the common. As of June 30, 2026: carrying value ~$2.0B, ~22%/14% ownership. Cash invested: $1.64B. The Series D was funded by commercial paper (424(b)(5)). PRECISION: press reports of a 'completed $2B' conflate the agreement cap and carrying value with cash invested.
- CONFIRMED (participant agreement v1.4, verbatim basis): no right to refund, reversal, or return of funds used to fund the account (I.7); cash may be 'invested or commingled' without prior notice per CFTC Reg 1.25/39.15(e) (I.12); consent to electronic delivery of 'IRS Form 1099-B' (I.23); liability capped at the lesser of purchase price or total deposits (VI); worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable trading-data license (XI.4); unilateral amendment on notice (XI.8); 18+/age of majority (II.1).
- CONFIRMED (Clearing Rulebook, Aug 14, 2026, verbatim basis): Rule 5.4 — member cash may be commingled or invested by the clearinghouse without notice, with 'no obligation to inform the Clearing Member of any such investments or of the results,' and the clearinghouse 'shall be entitled to retain any profits'; Rule 5.2 — USD only; deposits/withdrawals up to three Settlement Bank business days; withdrawals only from excess over margin and declinable for the clearinghouse's protection; Rule 3.3 — Member Property Accounts segregated and treated as belonging to Direct Clearing Members; Rule 3.1(i) — affiliates may clear with conflicts disclosed by website notice; Rule 3.14 — ~$50,000 all-causes annual liability cap and a loser-pays provision for unsuccessful member suits; 'Settlement Bank' defined only as 'a depository approved by the Clearinghouse.'
- CONFIRMED (Polymarket Clearing site): QC Clearing 'clears only fully collateralized positions and does not employ a margin-setting methodology or maintain a financial resource package.'
- CONFIRMED (fee documentation, both venues, captured 2026-08-30): Polymarket US effective July 1, 2026 — taker Θ=0.06 (max $1.50/100 at 50¢), maker rebate −0.0125 (max $0.31), taker-rebate tiers 10%/25%/50% at $250K/$1M/$10M prior-month notional paid weekly, 'Accelerated Tier Placement' honoring verifiable volume on another prediction market, banker's rounding; block trades 50bp taker/15bp maker per contract (June 2026). Fee arc per CFTC notices: 1bp at launch → 10bp (certified Jan 8, 2026) → 0.05 formula (March) → 0.06 (July 1). International — taker-only by category: crypto 0.07, sports/economics/culture/weather/other 0.05, finance/politics/mentions/tech 0.04, geopolitics 0; makers never charged; maker-rebate redistribution program; no venue fee on USDC deposits/withdrawals.
- CONFIRMED (notice archive, 110 filings): technical-issue notices 6/08, 6/09, 6/11, 6/13, 8/27 (plus more); market halts 1/19 and 3/17; compensation credits — disruption account credits 6/14, 6/16, 6/24, duplicated-settlement credit 7/02, positions-data-delay credit 7/23; incentive programs repeatedly amended with two WITHDRAWN in August 2026; fractional contracts (5/19), RFQ (7/22, after a withdrawn 7/02 attempt); CCO signature changed from Andrew Clifford (January 2026) to Megan McGrath (June 2026).
- CONFIRMED (UMA resolution documentation): ~$750 pUSD proposal bonds; 2-hour challenge window; disputed outcomes escalate through a second proposal to UMA token-holder votes (~48 hours after a 24-48 hour debate period; 4-6 days total); 'Unknown/50-50' resolutions redeem every token at $0.50; clarifications published onchain; UmaCtfAdapter audit published.
- CONFIRMED (pUSD documentation): ERC-20 wrapper over USDC.e on Polygon, backing enforced by CollateralOnramp/Offramp contracts with an admin pause gate; not planned for external listing.
- CONFIRMED (SEGG 8-K, Apr 27-28, 2026): Polymarket is the exclusive prediction-markets technology provider for Sports.com Predict; transaction-fee net-revenue share; initial term through June 30, 2029; SEGG may terminate on 15 days' notice.
- CONFIRMED (conduct timeline): January 2022 CFTC settlement — $1.4M civil penalty, unregistered event-binary facility, US users to be blocked; November 2024 FBI raid on CEO Shayne Coplan; July 15, 2025 — DOJ and CFTC investigations closed without charges (CNBC, CoinDesk). ATTRIBUTED (WSJ via Bloomberg/CNBC, June 26-29, 2026): a new, broad CFTC probe including marketing practices — a WSJ review of 1,105 promotional videos found ~70% contained simulated trades, with creators paid ~$2-3K/month through a contractor without disclosure — and extending beyond marketing. Pending; not an enforcement action.
- CONFIRMED (legal docket, pending unless stated): Nevada NGCB complaint 1/16/26, TRO granted 1/29/26 (Carson City District Court); Rhode Island AG sued Polymarket and Kalshi 5/21/26; Kentucky AG suits June 2026; Polymarket preemption suits — Michigan (TRO denied 3/10/26), Massachusetts (filed 2/9/26, after the state enjoined Kalshi 2/6/26), New Mexico (filed 7/2/26). QCX designated 7/9/25; amended order Nov 2025; US relaunch 12/2/25; application to open the main exchange to US users filed 4/28/26, pending.
- ATTRIBUTED (third-party market data, metric and date stated): Allium (June 18, 2026) open interest — Kalshi ~$1.02B, Polymarket International ~$488.5M, Polymarket US ~$91.6M; The Block (July 2026) — Kalshi led monthly volume. The 2024 presidential market's ~$3.6B volume and the $112M QCEX purchase price are press figures. 'World's largest prediction market' is Polymarket's self-description, echoed by ICE.
- MEASURED (AltStreet crawl, Aug 30, 2026): of 100 crawled polymarket.com pages, 49 were sports, 14 esports, and 28 individual event pages — the homepage link graph is roughly two-thirds sports and esports.
- NOT LOCATED: any financial statements for Blockratize, QCX, or QC Clearing; the settlement bank's name or deposit-insurance treatment; market-maker/liquidity-program economics (fee exhibits carry confidential-treatment requests); any Form D for the ICE investment; a press-reported ~$3M hack (did not verify on targeted search and is excluded). Search results, not guarantees.

**Primary source pages**

- polymarketexchange.com — Exchange Rulebook, Clearing Rulebook (Aug 14, 2026), Individual/Entity Participant and Clearing Member Agreements (v1.4, Aug 6, 2026), Risk Disclosure Statement, /files/notices/ (110 notices) — PDFs on file
- docs.polymarket.us — fee schedule (effective July 1, 2026) with per-price tables and worked examples; deposits/withdrawals; resolution, settlement, clarifications; FAQs incl. 'Is my money safe?'; trading restrictions
- docs.polymarket.com — trading fees by category (captured Aug 30, 2026); resolution (UMA); pUSD collateral contracts; perpetuals (fees, margin, liquidation, funding); bridge deposit/withdraw
- SEC EDGAR — Blockratize Inc. (CIK 0002041378): Form D 2024-10-18, D/A 2025-02-25, Form D 2025-08-01
- ICE (CIK 0001571949): Q1 2026 10-Q and Q2 2026 10-Q Polymarket notes; 424(b)(5) Nov 2025 (commercial-paper funding); ex-99.1 Oct 7, 2025 announcement
- SEGG Media 8-K (April 28, 2026) and ex-99.1 — Sports.com Predict partnership
- CFTC — DCM designation records for QCX LLC (July 9, 2025); 2022 Blockratize settlement order
- Court records and attributed press: Nevada NGCB complaint (1/16/26) and TRO (1/29/26); Rhode Island AG suit (5/21/26); Kentucky suits (6/2026); Polymarket preemption suits vs Michigan, Massachusetts, New Mexico
- polymarket.com 107-page site capture (August 30, 2026)


## Related

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Source page: https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/polymarket
Machine index: https://altstreet.investments/llms.txt
AltStreet reads what platforms, funds and issuers file with the SEC and what they tell investors, and publishes the difference. Figures are as filed or as captured on the date stated; nothing here is investment advice.