How to Use Polymarket: A Guide to Decentralized Prediction Markets

Polymarket is an decentralized prediction market where users can bet on a variety of outcomes, ranging from election results to sports, pop culture, cryptocurrency price movements and even scientific breakthroughs.

Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market where users can bet on a variety of outcomes, ranging from election results to sports, pop culture, cryptocurrency price movements and even scientific breakthroughs. In this article, we will explain how Polymarket works and show you how to make bets on the platform. Although it doesn’t hurt to have some experience with crypto, it’s relatively easy to get started with Polymarket even if you’ve never used cryptocurrency or dont own any crypto coins.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Polymarket:

If you want to start using Polymarket, you will need two things. A wallet that is compatible with the Polygon blockchain network (we recommend the MetaMask wallet) and some USDC tokens. USDC is a stablecoin that tracks the value of the US dollar. Therefore, you won’t need to worry about the wild price fluctuations that are common in the cryptocurrency market.

You can install MetaMask either as a web browser extension or as a mobile app. For using Polymarket, we recommend using the MetaMask web browser extension, as Polymarket currently doesn’t offer a mobile app.

If you plan to have a substantial amount of funds in your crypto wallets, we strongly recommend you use a hardware wallet alongside MetaMask to significantly improve the security of your funds. Check out our list of the best hardware wallets to use with MetaMask if you want to learn more.

Once your wallet is set up, you will be able to connect to Polymarket by clicking “Sign Up†on the top right of the Polymarket website. Then, select the MetaMask option and approve the sign-in request in your wallet.

Then, click the “Deposit†button. The site will present an address which you can use to fund your Polymarket account. The address will be a long string of numbers and letters starting with “0x†.

If you have USDC tokens on a cryptocurrency exchange such as Coinbase, Binance or Robinhood, you can withdraw them to this address. Make sure that you’re withdrawing USDC on the Polygon network. Otherwise, you could lose your money.

Alternatively, you can buy USDC directly through the Polymarket interface. Polymarket currently has an integration with Moonpay, a company that simplifies the process of purchasing cryptocurrency. This is a convenient way of adding USDC to your Polymarket account, but the purchase fee will be significantly higher than buying USDC on an exchange.

Now that you have some USDC in your Polymarket account, you can start making bets on the platform. To do this, simply browse through the available markets and click on the one that you want to bet on.

On the market page, you will see a list of all the possible outcomes for the event that the market is describing. For each outcome, there will be two prices, one for the “Yes†option and one for the “No†option.

The “Yes†price represents the price at which you can buy shares that will pay out $1 if the “Yes†outcome occurs. The “No†price represents the price at which you can buy shares that will pay out $1 if the “No†outcome occurs.

For example, in the screenshot below, we can see that the “Yes†price for the outcome “Kamala Harris will win the 2024 U.S. presidential election†is currently $0.458, while the “No†price is $0.538. This means that the market is currently giving Kamala Harris a 45.8% chance of winning the election.

To make a bet on an outcome, simply enter the amount of USDC that you want to bet in the field next to the outcome and then click the “Buy Yes Shares†or “Buy No Shares†button.

You will then be asked to confirm the transaction in your MetaMask wallet. Once you have confirmed the transaction, your bet will be placed.

If the outcome that you bet on occurs, you will be able to redeem your shares for $1 each. If the outcome that you bet on does not occur, your shares will become worthless.

It’s important to note that on Polymarket, you are not locked into a bet after you make it. The platform allows users to trade the shares that they own before the event described by the market actually transpires.

For example, let’s say that we purchased “Yes†shares for Kamala Harris when her odds were at 45.8%. If her odds increased after we made our bet, we could decide to sell our shares for a higher price and lock in profits