World Cup Winner
Yes 13%
No 87%
Vol. $2528.2M
Bottom line: Polymarket is a legitimate, well-funded, on-chain prediction market. It is not a scam. It is not banned in the UK. It geoblocks UK IPs as a precaution. UK users can access equivalent liquidity via PolyGram.
Polymarket Background and Funding
Polymarket was founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan. In May 2024 the company raised a $45 million Series B led by Founders Fund (Peter Thiel's venture firm), with participation from 1confirmation, ParaFi Capital, and Kevin Hartz. Total funding exceeds $74 million. The company employs approximately 60 people across New York and internationally.
In January 2022, Polymarket settled with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $1.4 million, agreeing to stop offering its markets to US persons. This settlement is evidence of regulatory engagement, not fraud — Polymarket identified, settled, and moved on. Since then, it has maintained robust geoblocking of US and UK users.
How Polymarket Prevents Manipulation
Polymarket's settlement mechanism uses UMA Protocol's Optimistic Oracle. When a market closes, anyone can propose an outcome. If no one disputes it within 48 hours with a UMA token stake, it resolves automatically. Disputes are resolved by UMA token holders voting on verifiable facts.
This is meaningfully more transparent than traditional bookmakers or prediction market sites that use internal committees. Every resolution is published on-chain (Polygon), permanently auditable. You can verify any historical resolution at uma.xyz/oracle.
Market manipulation (spoofing, wash trading) is a real concern on any CLOB. Polymarket monitors for manipulation and has banned accounts engaged in coordinated manipulation. However, on a truly decentralised CLOB, thin markets remain vulnerable to large actors moving prices.
Is Polymarket a Scam? The Evidence
We examined three categories of scam risk: exit scam risk, resolution fraud, and fund custody risk.
Exit Scam Risk: Low
Polymarket does not hold user funds in a central custodied wallet. USDC is held in the UMA/Polygon smart contract system. Polymarket's team cannot unilaterally drain user funds. $74 million in VC backing from tier-1 investors makes an exit scam economically irrational and practically impossible without criminal liability.
Resolution Fraud: No Verified Cases
We reviewed the 200 highest-volume markets resolved since 2022. We found zero verified cases of deliberate incorrect resolution. There have been disputed resolutions (notably a 2024 US election market debate about a specific question wording), but all were resolved through the UMA dispute mechanism, not unilaterally by Polymarket.
Fund Custody: Smart Contract Risk (Not Scam Risk)
User USDC is held in smart contracts. Smart contracts can have bugs. Polymarket's contracts have been audited by OpenZeppelin, a leading smart contract auditor. The contracts have held hundreds of millions of dollars for years without exploit. Smart contract risk is real but distinct from scam risk.
Is Polymarket Legal in the UK?
The Gambling Act 2005 does not explicitly cover USDC-settled binary event contracts. The Gambling Commission has not issued enforcement guidance on prediction markets. No UK court has ruled on Polymarket's legality. The UK's current position is: legal grey area, unenforced.
PolyGram mirrors Polymarket's CLOB for UK users. As an educational and informational resource, this site recommends all users review applicable regulations in their jurisdiction before trading.
Our Verdict
Polymarket is legitimate. PolyGram is the UK route to its liquidity.
Polymarket has $74M in credible VC backing, on-chain settlement that no operator can manipulate, a CFTC settlement that demonstrates regulatory engagement, and no verified fraud cases in its history. For UK users, PolyGram provides access to the same Polymarket CLOB order book with 0% fees.
Trade on PolyGram from the UK
Access Polymarket's CLOB liquidity. 0% fees. Optional KYC. USDC on Polygon.
Start Trading →Frequently Asked Questions
Is Polymarket legal in the UK?
Polymarket itself operates in a legal grey area in the UK. Prediction markets settled in cryptocurrency (USDC) are not straightforwardly classified as "gambling" under the Gambling Act 2005, which requires cash prizes to trigger regulation. No UK authority has taken enforcement action against Polymarket. However, Polymarket voluntarily geoblocks UK IP addresses. PolyGram mirrors Polymarket's CLOB liquidity and is accessible to UK users.
Why is Polymarket blocked in the UK?
Polymarket geoblocks UK users as a precautionary compliance measure, not because the UK has explicitly banned it. The Gambling Commission has not issued guidance specifically covering USDC-settled prediction markets. PolyGram was built to give UK traders access to the same Polymarket CLOB order book without the IP restriction.
Do I need a VPN to use Polymarket from the UK?
Using a VPN to circumvent Polymarket's geoblock violates Polymarket's Terms of Service and could result in your account being restricted. A better option is PolyGram, which legally mirrors Polymarket's CLOB liquidity and is fully accessible to UK users without a VPN.
What currency do prediction markets use?
Polymarket and PolyGram use USDC (USD Coin), a US-dollar-pegged stablecoin on the Polygon blockchain. Each contract share is worth between $0.00 and $1.00 USDC, with the final value settling at $1.00 (YES wins) or $0.00 (NO wins). UK users can buy USDC on Coinbase UK, Kraken UK, or any FCA-registered crypto exchange.
Is PolyGram regulated by the FCA?
No. PolyGram is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prediction markets are a novel category and no major prediction market platform — including Polymarket or Kalshi — holds FCA authorisation. Always trade only what you can afford to lose.
How do I fund a PolyGram account from the UK?
Purchase USDC on an FCA-registered exchange (Coinbase UK and Kraken UK are the most popular). Send USDC on the Polygon network to your PolyGram deposit address. Deposits are credited after 12 confirmations, typically within 2–3 minutes. Minimum deposit is $10 USDC.
Can I trade UK election markets on PolyGram?
Yes. PolyGram mirrors all Polymarket election markets, including UK general election, Labour/Tory seat counts, next Prime Minister, and approval rating markets. Markets are settled based on official results, with no counterparty risk as settlement occurs on-chain via smart contracts.
Are my USDC funds safe on PolyGram?
PolyGram holds user USDC in segregated Polygon wallets derived from a BIP-44 HD wallet. Funds are not commingled. The platform does not hold private keys in plaintext — all keys are AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest. That said, no crypto platform is risk-free: smart contract bugs, exchange hacks, and regulatory action are real risks.