How to use Polymarket: a step-by-step beginner's guide

Published 2026-05-21 · Last reviewed 2026-08-07

Catie Di StefanoFounder & Editor-in-Chief

Reviewed by Catie Di Stefano

TL;DR

Polymarket is an on-chain prediction market on Polygon. You trade with USDC, not USD.
Sign in with email (Magic link creates an embedded wallet) or connect MetaMask. No KYC.
Fund by bridging USDC to Polygon, then trade. Resolution is handled by the UMA oracle.

New to this? Read this first

Prediction markets price events in cents, not odds. Here is the vocabulary used on this page, in plain English.

Price = probability: A contract that pays $1 trading at 12¢ means the market thinks there's a 12% chance.
YES / NO share: YES pays $1 if it happens. NO pays $1 if it doesn't. You can never lose more than you paid.
+609 (American odds): Sportsbook shorthand. Bet $100, win $609 profit. That's about a 14% implied chance.
Vig: The book's built-in margin. Sportsbook percentages add up to more than 100%; market prices don't.
Liquidity: How much money is in the market. More money means you can get in and out at the price you see.

Polymarket isn't a sportsbook. It's a crypto wallet stapled to a prediction market — which sounds intimidating until you do it once. Here's the full flow before we detail each step.

Polymarket in five steps

Create your account. Email sign-in or MetaMask. What to expect: email creates a no-seed-phrase wallet in seconds; US IPs are geo-blocked.
Fund with USDC on Polygon. Buy in-app, bridge, or send from an exchange. What to expect: pick Polygon explicitly — wrong-chain USDC gets stuck.
Place a trade. Choose YES/NO, enter a dollar amount, confirm. What to expect: 0% fees, instant fills on liquid markets, penny gas.
Track and exit. Watch the Portfolio page and sell to exit early. What to expect: thin markets move 10¢ against you on entry.
Withdraw. Send USDC out, then off-ramp to fiat. What to expect: ~30–60 minutes to a bank via Coinbase; bridging is the slow step.

Step 1 — Create your account

Go to polymarket.com and click Log in. You have two paths:

US traders: Polymarket is available via the iOS app in 50 states + D.C. Deposit $20 and use code COLLEGEPM for a $50 bonus. See where Polymarket is available and is Polymarket legal? before signing up.

Email (recommended for beginners) — Polymarket uses Magic to create an embedded smart-wallet behind the scenes. No seed phrase, no MetaMask.
Connect MetaMask / Coinbase Wallet — full self-custody, but you'll manage gas and bridging.

No KYC, no SSN, no address verification.

Step 2 — Fund with USDC on Polygon

Polymarket runs on Polygon and settles in USDC. If you signed up with email, the deposit screen shows a QR code and your Polygon address. You can:

Buy USDC directly in-app via MoonPay / debit card — easiest, highest fees.
Bridge USDC from another chain using Polymarket's built-in bridge — medium fees, ~10–30 minutes.
Send USDC from an exchange like Coinbase or Kraken that supports Polygon withdrawals — cheapest, requires you to already hold USDC there.

Don't send ETH-mainnet USDC to your Polygon address — the funds will sit in limbo. Pick Polygon explicitly when withdrawing from an exchange.

Step 3 — Place your first trade

Browse to any market. The interface shows a YES price and a NO price in cents (e.g. 0.32 means 32¢). Click YES or NO, enter the dollar amount you want to spend, and confirm. The app shows your max payout before you commit.

Trades execute against an on-chain order book operated by Polymarket. Fills are usually instant on liquid markets. Polymarket charges 0% trading fees — gas costs on Polygon are pennies.

Step 4 — Track and exit positions

The Portfolio page shows every open position with unrealized P&L. To exit early, click your position and sell — you'll trade against the live order book at the current price.

Step 5 — Withdraw

Send USDC to any Polygon address from the Withdraw screen. From there you can bridge it back to Ethereum mainnet, send it to a centralized exchange, or off-ramp to fiat. Total time to bank account is usually 30–60 minutes via Coinbase.

Beginner pitfalls

Sending USDC on the wrong chain. Polymarket only accepts USDC on Polygon (PoS chain). Wrong-chain deposits require manual recovery.
Ignoring oracle dispute risk. UMA disputes can delay settlement by days. Check past resolutions on a similar market before you trust the resolution date.
Thin orderbooks on niche markets. A market with $500 of liquidity will move 10¢ when you enter. Filter to high-volume markets first.

Ready to try?

Open a Polymarket account. If you want a CFTC-regulated US alternative, see our Kalshi vs Polymarket comparison.

Polymarket is US iOS-only in supported states — see where Polymarket is accessible in the US first.

Odds → probability → payout

Sportsbook odds (e.g. +609 or -150)Your stake ($)

Implied chance: 14.1%
Fair market price: 14¢
Pays back: $141.80
Profit if right: $121.80

Sportsbook odds include the book's margin, so the implied chance shown here is slightly higher than the true probability. A prediction-market contract priced below this number is the better deal. Reverse check: 14.1% ≈ +609.

Your first trade, step by step

Fund a small balanceOpen an account, verify your ID, and deposit $10–$20 by debit or ACH. You must be 18+ and in an eligible state.
Find the marketSearch the event by team, player or headline. Check the price and the volume — thin markets move a lot on small orders.
Read the price as a probabilityA 23¢ YES contract means the market gives it about a 23% chance. If you think it is higher than that, YES is the value side.
Place a limit orderEnter the price you want rather than taking the market. You buy shares, not a bet slip — the most you can lose is what you paid.
Decide your exitYou can sell any time before the event resolves, or hold to settlement where each winning share pays $1.

Ready to try it: open Polymarket. 18+, eligible states only. Trade what you can afford to lose.

Sources & further reading

Polymarket — official sitePolymarket
Polymarket documentationPolymarket

Frequently asked questions

Do I need crypto experience to use Polymarket?

No. If you sign in with email, Polymarket creates an embedded wallet for you and you never touch a seed phrase. If you connect MetaMask, you'll need to manage gas and bridging yourself.

Is Polymarket legal in the US?

Polymarket's terms restrict US users, and US IPs are geo-blocked. The CFTC fined Polymarket in 2022 for offering unregistered event contracts. Many US traders use VPNs, but this is not legal advice.

What's the minimum to start?

Effectively a few dollars in USDC plus enough MATIC for gas — call it $5–$10 to get started. Trade sizes can be tiny because there's no commission per trade.

How fast are Polymarket withdrawals?

Withdrawals are on-chain Polygon transfers — they confirm in minutes. The slow step is bridging USDC off Polygon to an exchange or to Ethereum mainnet, which can take 30+ minutes.

Who decides if a market resolves YES or NO?

The UMA oracle network. Anyone can propose a resolution; if disputed, UMA token holders vote. Disputed markets can take days to settle.

What does the price actually mean?

A contract settles at $1 if the event happens and $0 if it doesn't, so the price is the market's probability. A contract at 23¢ means roughly a 23% chance, and $1 buys about 4.3 shares.

How much money do I need to start?

You can place a real trade with $10–$20. Contracts are priced in cents, so a $20 balance buys dozens of shares on a cheap market. Start small until you have seen a position settle.