Two versions, two workflows. In the US: install the Polymarket US app, verify your identity, deposit $20 or more by Apple Pay, Google Pay, card or bank, trade in dollars, and withdraw back to the same method after the deposit clears. Elsewhere: use polymarket.com, deposit USDC (or buy it with a card in-app), trade, and withdraw USDC on-chain in minutes. Either way: buy Yes or No at a price, sell any time, or hold to settlement for $1 or $0.
US app
1. Install and verify
Go to polymarket.us, or get the Polymarket US app from the App Store or Google Play. You need to be 18+, in a state where it operates, and able to pass full verification: government ID, a selfie, your Social Security number and proof of residence. If the app asks for an invite code, see invite codes.
2. Deposit
Minimum $20. Apple Pay and Google Pay are the smoothest; some banks decline card deposits to prediction markets, so if a card fails try a wallet or bank transfer. No deposit fee from Polymarket; your card issuer may add one.
3. Trade
Pick a market, choose Yes or No, enter an amount. A market order fills now at the best price and pays the taker fee for that category (0–7% × price × (1 − price)); a limit order waits at your price and pays nothing. The price is the probability: 64¢ means about 64%. You can sell any time, or hold until the market settles at $1 or $0.
4. Withdraw
Withdrawals go back to the method you funded with, and only after that deposit has cleared, which third-party guides put at 3–4 business days. Expect a similar wait for card and ACH withdrawals and about a business day for wires. No Polymarket fee.
Global site (outside the US)
1. Sign up
Email, Google or a crypto wallet. Lighter checks than the US app. Not for US residents, and a VPN to get around that breaks the terms. You can sign up through our referral link; it doesn't change your fees.
2. Deposit
Send USDC on the Polygon network to your Polymarket address, or buy USDC with a card through the built-in on-ramp (MoonPay and others, with their own fees). Polymarket itself charges nothing to deposit.
3. Trade
Same mechanics: Yes/No shares at 1–99¢, market or limit orders, takers pay the category fee, makers don't, geopolitics is free. Resolution is by the UMA oracle; read each market's resolution rules.
4. Withdraw
Withdraw USDC to any Polygon wallet; it lands in minutes and Polymarket charges no fee. To get to cash you then sell the USDC on an exchange or through an off-ramp.
Five habits that save money
- Use limit orders on anything that isn't a headline market. Takers pay; makers don't.
- Check the spread before trading size.
- Read the resolution rules, especially on the global site, where disputes are decided by an oracle, not a help desk.
- On the US app, don't deposit money you'll need back within a week.
- Treat the price as a probability, not a prediction.
Fees from Polymarket's documentation; US app funding and withdrawal timings from third-party guides (February–May 2026) as Polymarket US doesn't publish them in one place. Confirm in-app.