Market Integrity - Polymarket US Rules, Standards & Commitment

Our Commitment

QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US is a Designated Contract Market (DCM) registered with and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). As a registered exchange, Polymarket US operates as a self-regulatory organization responsible for establishing, monitoring, and enforcing rules designed to promote fair, orderly, and transparent markets.

On Polymarket US, participants buy and sell shares representing the outcomes of future events — from elections, geopolitics, and financial markets to sports and entertainment — and trades are matched with other users, not the house. This system works because participants are financially motivated to trade on their expertise and intuition — and because they have confidence that no one is gaming the outcomes. Polymarket US maintains and enforces rules designed to protect the integrity of those outcomes and keep our markets free from deceptive, manipulative, and unfair trading practices.

Insider Trading, and Trading By Those Who Can Influence the Outcome, Are Strictly Prohibited on Polymarket

It is a violation of Polymarket US's rules to:

Trade on stolen confidential information. You may not trade on any contract if you possess confidential information about the outcome or likely outcome of the underlying event, if using that information would violate a preexisting duty or obligation of trust or confidence you owe to another person or entity.
Trade on illegal tips. You may not trade on confidential information that was passed to you by someone who owed a preexisting duty of trust or confidence to someone else — if you know or have reason to know that the person who shared the information would be prohibited from trading on it themselves.
Trade if you can influence the outcome. You may not trade on any contract if you hold a position of authority or influence sufficient to affect the outcome of the underlying event. You also may not trade at the direction of someone who holds such a position.

Sample Scenarios

To illustrate these concepts, we have provided some hypothetical examples of prohibited and permitted conduct under Polymarket US's rules:

You are an assistant coach on a professional sports team, and you learn that the team's star player has an injury that has not yet been disclosed to the public. The team has confidentiality rules that apply to you. Can you trade on this information? No. The star player's undisclosed injury is confidential information that belongs to your employer (the team), not you. If you trade on this information before it becomes public, you are breaching a duty to your employer.
Your friend is the assistant coach on a professional sports team and tells you that the team's star player has an injury that has not been disclosed to the public. Your friend tells you that they cannot trade on the information, but encourages you to. Can you trade on this information? No. Your friend has a duty to the team to keep the undisclosed injury confidential, and you know that your friend cannot trade on the information themselves. You cannot trade on the tip they passed to you.
You are a dancer at a sporting event halftime show. During rehearsals, you learn exactly what songs the headliner will perform. When you were hired, you signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Can you trade on this information? Again, no. Because you owe a duty of confidentiality, you cannot trade on your advance knowledge of the playlist.
You sit in a park near the stadium where a sporting event will be held. From the park, you can hear rehearsals and you learn how long the pregame performance of the national anthem will run. Can you trade on this information? Yes. As long as you do not owe a duty of confidentiality and obtained the information lawfully, you may trade on this information even if others do not have access to the same information.
You are an amateur meteorologist. You have developed your own forecast model to predict major weather events using publicly-available data. Can you trade on this information? Yes. Your forecast model is non-public information, but it belongs to you and is based on publicly-available data. You would not breach any pre-existing duty owed to another person or entity by trading on your own forecast model.
You are a candidate in a state political election. There is a market on whether you will drop out of the race. Can you trade? No. Because you control the outcome of this market, you are prohibited from trading.
You are working on a campaign for a candidate in a state political election. There is a market on whether the candidate will drop out of the race. The candidate encourages you to buy a "Yes" share. Can you trade? No. You cannot trade at the direction of anyone who holds a position of authority or influence sufficient to affect the outcome of an event.

Other Prohibited Conduct

In addition to insider trading, Polymarket US's rules prohibit all types of fraud and market manipulation (including spoofing, wash trading, and fictitious transactions), self-dealing, front-running, information misuse, attempted manipulation, and disruptive practices that undermine the orderly operation of our markets. Participants must also supervise their authorized users, follow proper order-handling procedures, and comply with all applicable laws, including the Commodities Exchange Act, and Exchange Rules.

Full details are set out in Chapter VII of the Polymarket US Rulebook.

How We Monitor and Enforce Our Rules

All participants are subject to Polymarket US's rules and disciplinary procedures. Polymarket US maintains a multi-layered market monitoring program designed to detect potential rule violations:

First, Polymarket US partners with world-class trade surveillance and technology specialists to monitor for suspicious trades and ensure the integrity of our markets.

Second, Polymarket US manages a control desk to conduct real-time surveillance of trading activity and identify unusual or disruptive trading activity.

Third, to supplement its own monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, Polymarket US has entered into a Regulatory Services Agreement with the National Futures Association (NFA) to conduct trade practice surveillance, detect potential rule violations, and investigate and sanction persons who violate our Rules, as provided in Chapter 7 of the Polymarket US Rulebook. Polymarket US coordinates with the NFA to address trading activity found to violate the Rules through the NFA's ongoing surveillance activities.

When surveillance identifies unusual or potentially questionable trading activity, Polymarket US may initiate a review, open a formal investigation and, if warranted, pursue disciplinary proceedings.

If a participant is found after investigation to have violated Polymarket US's rules or applicable law, sanctions may include suspension, monetary penalties, termination of trading privileges, or referral to regulatory or law enforcement authorities.

Report Suspicious Activity

If you believe you have witnessed potentially manipulative or prohibited trading activity on Polymarket US, we want to hear from you. Email reportitnow@QCEX.com to report suspicious activity. Reports are reviewed by Polymarket US and treated confidentially.