What is
Polymarket?
Polymarket is the world's largest prediction market — a place where you bet real money on real-world events, from elections to weather to sports. Here's a plain-English guide to how it works, who can use it, and what to do if it's blocked in your country.
Polymarket in one paragraph
Polymarket is an online prediction market built on the Polygon blockchain. Instead of trading stocks or crypto, you trade contracts that pay out $1 if a specific event happens ("Will Bitcoin close above $100k on Dec 31?") and $0 if it doesn't. The price of each contract — between 1 and 99 cents — reflects the market's collective probability that the event will happen.
Because traders are putting real money on the line, Polymarket prices are widely cited as one of the most accurate live forecasts of elections, geopolitics, and macro events. Bloomberg, the New York Times, and CNN have all referenced Polymarket odds during major news cycles.
Settlement is on-chain. When an event resolves, the winning side's contracts pay out $1 each in USDC, automatically. There's no broker, no withdrawal queue, no "pending" status — just a smart contract that pays the winners.
How Polymarket works in 3 steps
Pick an event
Browse markets on topics that interest you — politics, sports, crypto, pop culture. Each market has a clear yes/no question and a deadline.
Buy Yes or No shares
If you think Yes is more likely than the price suggests, buy Yes. If No looks underpriced, buy No. Shares cost between $0.01 and $0.99 — the price is the implied probability.
Get paid when it resolves
When the event happens, the correct side pays $1 per share in USDC, on-chain, automatically. You can also sell your position any time before resolution if the odds move in your favor.
Polymarket access around the world
Polymarket geoblocks users in the United States after a 2022 CFTC settlement that requires the platform to bar US residents from real-money trading. The same goes for the United Kingdom (Gambling Commission), France (ANJ), Belgium, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Poland, and most Gulf states. If polymarket.com loads as a "not available in your region" page, your country is on the list.
PolyZig is the worldwide alternative. We run on infrastructure that isn't subject to Polymarket's edge geoblocks, so users in restricted regions can access the same Polymarket markets, the same liquidity, and the same on-chain settlement — without a VPN and without giving up custody of their funds.
Why traders use PolyZig instead
Worldwide access
PolyZig isn't geoblocked. Users from the UK, EU, Gulf, Iran, and the rest of the world reach Polymarket markets directly, no VPN required.
Copy the best traders
PolyZig watches Polymarket's mempool and mirrors trades from top wallets in under 500 milliseconds. You don't need to pick markets yourself — follow proven traders.
Self-custody, always
Your private key never leaves your device. We don't hold your funds. You can export your wallet and trade on Polymarket directly any time you want.
Trending Polymarket markets right now
A snapshot of the questions traders are pricing today. Click any card to open the full live market on PolyZig.
Frequently asked questions about Polymarket
Is Polymarket legal?+
Polymarket itself is a set of public smart contracts on Polygon, which are accessible to anyone with a wallet. The polymarket.com website is restricted in the US, UK, France, Belgium, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Poland, and several other jurisdictions, generally because of local gambling-license or commodities-derivatives rules. Whether using a prediction market is legal for you depends on your country — check your local rules before depositing funds.
Why can't I access Polymarket from my country?+
Polymarket detects your IP at the edge and serves a "not available in your region" page if you're in a restricted jurisdiction. The on-chain markets are still live and tradable — it's only the polymarket.com frontend that blocks you. PolyZig is a separate frontend that reaches the same markets without applying those geoblocks.
Is Polymarket safe?+
Polymarket settles trades on Polygon using audited smart contracts, and your funds stay in a wallet you control rather than in a custodial account. The biggest risks are user-side: losing your private key, sending funds to the wrong address, or trading more than you can afford on long-tail outcomes. Polymarket itself has operated since 2020 with no major exchange-level security incident.
How is Polymarket different from sportsbooks like DraftKings or FanDuel?+
A sportsbook sets the odds and is your counterparty — you're betting against the house. Polymarket is a peer-to-peer market: you buy and sell shares from other traders, and the price moves based on supply and demand. There's no house edge baked into the line, just a small trading fee. That's why prediction-market prices are often closer to true probability than sportsbook odds.
What is PolyZig and how is it different from Polymarket?+
PolyZig is an independent platform that gives global users access to Polymarket markets and adds copy-trading on top. We don't run our own markets — every order is signed in your browser and posted directly to Polymarket's on-chain order book. The differences: PolyZig isn't geoblocked, supports automatic copy-trading from top wallets, and provides faster execution via mempool monitoring.
Ready to start trading prediction markets?
Create a free PolyZig account in under a minute. Self-custody wallet, direct access to Polymarket markets, and optional copy-trading from the top performers — all from anywhere in the world.
Create free account