Polymarket US Sign-Up Bonus & Welcome Offer: How to Claim It | Review

Polymarket US gives new users a $25 bonus, claimed with a code when you sign up, according to its own App Store listing. It is the US-regulated, app-only version of the world’s best-known prediction market.

Trading event contracts involves risk of loss. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Market availability depends on your location.

Polymarket US welcome offer

The Polymarket US app listing promotes the offer as “Get your $25 bonus” for new users.

The conditions attached to it, such as any qualifying deposit or trade and an expiry date, are shown in the app at sign-up. Read them before you fund the account, because promotional credit on prediction apps usually has to be traded rather than withdrawn.

Note where you sign up. US trading is blocked on polymarket.com, which sends American users to Polymarket US instead.

Polymarket US sign-up bonus: how to claim it

1. Download Polymarket US; US customers trade in the app, not on the international site.
2. Create your account and enter an invite or promo code at sign-up if you have one.
3. Verify your identity and confirm you are in an eligible state.
4. Fund the account and complete any qualifying step shown in the offer.
5. Check your balance for the $25 bonus once the conditions are met.

If you skip the code at sign-up, do not assume you can add it later. Check the offer screen before you finish registering.

Polymarket US promo code

Polymarket US advertises the $25 bonus alongside a code, and it has run invite and referral promotions since launch. It has not issued a code to us.

We do not publish codes found on influencer channels or other affiliate sites. The cleanest route is an invite code from a friend who already trades on Polymarket US.

Polymarket US offer terms worth knowing

• Code at sign-up: the bonus is tied to a code entered when you register.
• Trade, not cash: promotional credit is generally for trading and cannot be withdrawn as cash. Check the terms shown in the app.
• App only: US customers cannot claim it on polymarket.com.
• State checks: identity and location are verified before you can trade.

Polymarket US review

Polymarket spent most of its life locked out of the United States. That changed in July 2025, when it paid a reported $112 million for QCX LLC and QC Clearing LLC, a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse. It turned them into Polymarket US. The app opened to invited users in December 2025 and has since added sports, economics, elections, tech and culture.

The result is the most recognizable name in prediction markets, now trading under the same federal rules as Kalshi. It is cheap for patient traders and broad in scope. But it is app-only for US customers, and many of the markets that made Polymarket famous stay on the international site.

Polymarket US at a glance

Feature	Detail
Exchange	QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US
Clearing	QC Clearing LLC (Polymarket Clearing)
CFTC status	Designated contract market since July 9, 2025; amended order in November 2025 allows intermediated access
Minimum age	18+ (higher where local law requires)
Markets	Sports, esports, politics, economics, crypto, weather, tech, culture
Trading fee	Takers pay a category-based fee; makers pay nothing; geopolitics fee-free
Funding	Bank transfer, debit card, Apple Pay, wire, USDC
Restricted	Nevada

Who runs Polymarket US

Three companies sit behind the app. The exchange is QCX LLC, which the CFTC lists as a designated contract market operating under the name Polymarket US. Trades clear through QC Clearing LLC, a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization. The app itself is published by a separate software company, QC Tech LLC, which connects you to the exchange.

Polymarket was founded by Shayne Coplan and built its global audience on crypto rails. The US business is a different animal: it requires identity checks, takes dollar deposits, and lists only contracts self-certified with the CFTC. The CFTC approved an amended order of designation in November 2025, which let Polymarket US onboard customers through brokers as well as directly.

Polymarket US vs polymarket.com

This trips up a lot of new users. The international site still shows the famous markets, but it blocks trading from US locations and points American visitors to polymarket.us. Prices you see there are view-only.

The US exchange has its own catalog. Many big questions are mirrored; some are not. Before you sign up for a specific market, open the Polymarket US app and search for it.

Markets on Polymarket US

The Polymarket US site groups contracts into eight categories:

• Sports: NFL, college football, NBA, MLB, hockey, soccer including the Champions League, tennis, golf, boxing, MMA, cricket, darts, rugby and motorsports.
• Esports: League of Legends, CS2, Valorant, Dota 2, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege.
• Politics: midterm races and primaries.
• Economics: Fed decisions, inflation and jobs data.
• Crypto: Bitcoin price markets and more.
• Weather, tech and culture: a growing list that includes AI and entertainment questions.

The esports list runs deep, which makes Polymarket US a natural home for fans of competitive gaming and, increasingly, machine sports. For AI-specific contracts and how they settle, see our AI prediction markets guide.

Polymarket US fees

Polymarket US charges takers, the traders who hit an existing order, using the same price × (1 − price) curve Kalshi uses. The fee is largest on contracts near 50 cents and shrinks toward the extremes. The rate depends on the category: crypto sits at the top, sports and culture in the middle, and geopolitical markets carry no fee at all.

Makers, whose resting limit orders get filled, pay nothing, and active market makers can earn rebates. Place limit orders, wait to be filled, and you pay no trading fee.

The exact rate for any market appears on the order ticket before you confirm. If you are weighing Polymarket against a sportsbook price, our expected value calculator lets you plug in the fee and see whether the edge survives it.

Sign-up: age, ID and states

The terms set the minimum age at 18, or higher where your jurisdiction requires. You will need to verify your identity before trading. There is no web trading for US customers: you download the app, pass KYC, and trade from your phone.

Polymarket US is not available in Nevada, which has also pursued Polymarket in court. On September 24, 2026, New York sued Polymarket over alleged illegal gambling operations. Polymarket said it would fight for its users. Our legal states tracker follows the New York case.

Deposits and withdrawals

You can fund a Polymarket US account with:

• Online banking (ACH)
• Debit card
• Apple Pay
• Wire transfer
• USDC stablecoin

You do not need a crypto wallet to use the app. Bank and card deposits land as dollars. The minimum deposit is $10. Withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with, and your card issuer may charge its own fee on card funding.

The Polymarket US app

The app is built around a social feed: you can see what other traders are buying, and follow profit-and-loss leaderboards. Each market page shows the order book, a price chart and the rules, including the resolution source.

Responsible trading tools are thinner than Kalshi’s. If you want hard deposit limits, set them up on day one and check the help section for self-exclusion options.

Maker or taker: a worked example

Suppose an NBA game shows the home team at 55 cents to buy and 53 cents to sell. You want 100 contracts.

• As a taker, you buy at 55 cents straight away. Your cost is $55 plus a category fee calculated on the price × (1 − price) curve, which is at its highest near 50 cents.
• As a maker, you post a bid at 54 cents and wait. If a seller hits it, you pay $54 and no trading fee. If nobody does before tip-off, you can cancel at no cost.

Over a season, that one-cent improvement plus the missing fee adds up. Patient traders who use limit orders get the most out of Polymarket US.

Where your money sits

Trades on Polymarket US clear through QC Clearing LLC, a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization. A clearinghouse stands between buyer and seller, guaranteeing that the winning side is paid. That is the same structural safeguard used across US futures markets. It is a long way from the crypto-wallet model of Polymarket’s international site.

Profits are taxable. Keep your trade history from the app, and ask a tax professional how event contract gains should be reported in your situation.

Who Polymarket US suits

• Limit-order traders, who pay no trading fee as makers.
• Esports fans, thanks to six major titles on the menu.
• Crypto holders who want to fund with USDC instead of a bank.

It suits desktop users less well, since US trading happens in the app only.

How Polymarket US compares

Against Kalshi, Polymarket US is cheaper for limit-order traders and stronger on esports. Kalshi has the longer federal record, web trading, and weather and economic data markets. Against FanDuel Predicts, Polymarket has more categories and no fee for makers, but FanDuel has the sportsbook brand and CME Group behind it.

Head-to-head

App	CFTC role	Age	Trading fee
Polymarket US	DCM	18+	Category-based taker fee; makers free
Kalshi	DCM	18+	0.07 × price × (1 − price)
FanDuel Predicts	FCM (CME-listed)	18+	2% of payout

Trading responsibly on Polymarket US

A social feed and leaderboards make it easy to chase other people’s trades. Decide your budget before you open the app, set limits where the app allows, and remember that a leaderboard shows winners, not the much larger group who lost. If trading stops feeling like a choice, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Before you deposit

• Search the US app for your market first. A question you saw on polymarket.com may not be listed on Polymarket US.
• Use limit orders. Makers pay no trading fee.
• Check your card issuer’s terms if you plan to fund by card.

Our verdict on Polymarket US

Polymarket US is the best second account in the category, and for limit-order traders it can be the first. The fee model rewards patience, the market list is wide, and the regulatory structure is now as solid as Kalshi’s.

The gaps are practical: no web trading, a catalog that does not match the global site, and pending state litigation. Know which markets you want before you deposit.

Trading event contracts involves risk of loss. Market availability depends on your location and pending litigation. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.