Is Polymarket Legal? What the Rules Say in the US and Beyond

In the US, two layers of law meet. Federally, the CFTC regulates derivatives, and it has treated event-based contracts as swaps (see the 2022 order above). States regulate gambling, and sports wagering in particular. Polymarket US operates under a CFTC designation and argues that this decides the question. Several states say their gambling laws still apply to sports contracts.

State action reported so far

These are reports, with the date each source was published. We have not read the court filings.

• Tennessee: the Sports Wagering Council wrote to Polymarket, Kalshi and Crypto.com in January 2026 ordering them to stop offering sports event contracts to Tennessee customers (The Block, January 10, 2026).
• Ohio: state officials sent cease-and-desist letters to prediction-market operators in October 2026, and Polymarket US sued Ohio officials in federal court (Crypto Briefing, October 21, 2026).
• Michigan: under a stipulation approved by a federal court, Polymarket US agreed to stop offering new sports contracts to Michigan customers and to close remaining positions by November 25, 2026. The state agreed not to take enforcement action while Polymarket complies (Michigan Gaming Control Board, October 28, 2026; also G3 Newswire).
• Other states: Fox Sports’ state-by-state guide, published October 5, 2026, marks Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada and Washington as restricted, describes Rhode Island and New Mexico as contested in court, and says Connecticut sent cease-and-desist letters (Fox Sports). Its state table covers Kalshi and Polymarket together, and its notes for Massachusetts and Michigan describe court orders against Kalshi, so it is not a Polymarket-only list.

What the federal courts have said

The big question is whether sports event contracts on a CFTC-registered exchange are “swaps” that federal law reserves to the CFTC. The appeals-court cases we found involve Kalshi, not Polymarket, but they decide the same question and the courts disagree:

• The Third Circuit, in April 2026, held 2–1 that such contracts are swaps and that New Jersey’s gambling laws are preempted, in a ruling on a preliminary injunction (Skadden).
• The Ninth Circuit, on August 28, 2026, held that Kalshi was unlikely to show its sports contracts are swaps that state law cannot reach, which let Nevada apply its gaming laws (Proskauer).
• The Sixth Circuit, on September 25, 2026, ruled that sports event contracts are not swaps and that federal law does not preempt Ohio’s sports gaming laws (Crypto Briefing).

So there is no single answer for the US yet. If you live in the US, use Polymarket US and read what the app offers in your state. Do not try to use polymarket.com: its terms bar US residents.

Polymarket’s own list

Polymarket publishes where it blocks new trading. Its help center says 40 countries are fully blocked (its table lists 41), plus four Canadian provinces and three regions of Ukraine, and notes the list rests on sanctions and on “additional regulatory restrictions” (help center, updated October 29, 2026). Its developer docs sort the same places into a short fully-blocked group (Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk) and a long close-only group, which includes the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Australia, Brazil and Singapore (geoblock docs). The two pages differ on a few countries, so we follow the docs for categories.

“Close-only” means you can close positions you already hold but cannot open new ones. Germany is a special case in the help center: trading is prohibited and positions must be held to resolution before the proceeds can be withdrawn. Our availability page keeps the full country-by-country list (last checked October 25, 2026), so we do not repeat it here.

What national regulators have said

Where Polymarket is open

Polymarket’s list leaves most of the world open, including Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Philippines and Canada outside the four provinces above. Open means Polymarket accepts you. It is not an approval from your government. The GGL’s summary of the June 2026 European statement says many countries regulate prediction markets unclearly or not at all, so the law in your country may simply not have caught up. If your country has a gambling or financial regulator, read what it says before you sign up.

There is no single answer, because the label depends on who applies it. Here is how each side describes it, from their own words:

• Polymarket: a market where, “instead of betting against a house, you trade shares with other users” (Polymarket 101). Polymarket US calls itself a CFTC-regulated exchange for event contracts (docs).
• The CFTC: treated Polymarket’s event-based binary options as swaps that had to be offered on a registered exchange (2022 order).
• Gambling regulators: France and Germany call it illegal gambling, Australia found a breach of its gambling law, and the UK Gambling Commission says such products would need a gambling licence (table above).
• US states and courts: Tennessee, Michigan and Ohio treat sports contracts as sports wagering. The Ninth and Sixth Circuits let state gaming laws apply in the cases before them, while the Third Circuit held that federal law preempts New Jersey’s.

One real difference from a sportsbook is that Polymarket does not take the other side of your trade: you trade with other users. We compare the two in Polymarket vs sportsbooks. The risk is the same, though. Prices move, you can lose the whole amount you trade, and our responsible trading page explains how to set limits.

Tax treatment depends on your country and on how its tax authority classifies prediction-market gains and losses. We do not cover it and cannot advise on it. Polymarket’s terms of use say it is your sole responsibility to determine the tax consequences of your transactions (terms, effective August 11, 2026). Keep records of your trades and ask a tax adviser in your country.

• Whether Polymarket US is open to you right now. It depends on your state and on court cases that are still moving.
• How the Supreme Court or other appeals courts will rule on sports event contracts.
• Whether regulators in countries marked open will act. We found regulator statements for the places in the table above, not for every country.
• How any regulator treats individual traders as opposed to the platform. The GGL says taking part can be punishable. We have not tracked enforcement against users.
• The exact current country list. Polymarket’s help center and developer docs disagree on a few countries.