Polymarket returns to the U.S. with a regulated mobile app as institutional crypto activity broadens
Polymarket has launched a U.S. mobile app for sports and proposition markets after receiving regulatory clearance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), marking a formal return to the American market following a multi-year absence.
Polymarket has blocked access to U.S. customers since 2022 after settling with the CFTC, which accused the company of operating an unregistered derivatives trading platform. The platform has now received a no-action letter, providing the green light to restart U.S. operations under federal oversight.
The relaunch arrives during a period of improving regulatory conditions for some crypto products and platforms. The raw information notes that the second Donald Trump administration eased the regulatory environment for Polymarket.
Polymarket, founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, is a blockchain-based prediction market where users wager on outcomes tied to real-world events. Activity has expanded beyond politics and macro topics into corporate and product-related questions, with users placing bets on events such as major company announcements, acquisitions, and layoffs.
One of the platform’s core design choices is its reliance on stablecoins for trading, particularly USD Coin (USDC). By denominating trades in USDC, Polymarket aims to reduce the impact of cryptocurrency price swings on a user’s stake, keeping transaction values steadier than platforms that rely on volatile tokens.
Distribution is also widening. MetaMask has added Polymarket directly into its mobile app, according to a Consensys blog post, allowing users to access prediction markets without leaving their wallet interface.
Polymarket’s return also lands amid growing attention to prediction markets more broadly. Kalshi, another U.S.-focused prediction market platform, secured CFTC approval in 2020 and later won judicial approval to list election-related contracts. The category gained visibility during the 2024 election cycle, helping establish prediction markets as a notable segment of the crypto economy.
At the same time, questions remain about how to interpret platform activity. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang amplified research alleging that Polymarket may be inflating its reported trading volumes due to a data aggregation error that can result in double-counting across third-party analytics platforms. The raw content also notes that a small contract size can lead to large reported volume figures, prompting some experts to prefer alternative measures such as open interest and fee revenue.
The broader crypto backdrop continues to mix institutional product expansion with market and regulatory uncertainty. BlackRock has continued to advance digital asset investment products, including a filing for the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF in the U.S., and its existing spot ether fund (ETHA) is described as the largest of its kind with about $17 billion in assets under management. BlackRock’s own framing of market cycles has also evolved, with BlackRock Investment Institute strategist Ben Powell saying, “You can’t be what people used to call ‘risk-on’.”
Meanwhile, macro conditions and policy debates remain part of the narrative. The raw information highlights that lower real interest rates have historically pushed capital toward risk assets, including digital currencies and gold, and that continued bipartisan momentum on U.S. crypto market structure legislation could bring additional clarity for institutional allocators.
For Polymarket, the U.S. app launch represents a key operational milestone: a regulated re-entry after the 2022 enforcement action, paired with deeper wallet-level distribution and renewed focus on how prediction markets are measured and governed as they scale.