Polymarket Launches 20x Leveraged Perpetual Futures Across 67 Markets — International Users Only
Polymarket launched Polymarket Perps on September 3 — perpetual futures with up to 20x leverage across 67 markets covering stocks, crypto, indices, and commodities. Available internationally only; US users are blocked under the same jurisdiction restrictions that separate Polymarket International from the CFTC-regulated US platform. The launch puts Polymarket in direct competition with Binance Futures and dYdX and marks a significant expansion beyond binary prediction markets.
Polymarket launched Polymarket Perps on September 3, 2026 — perpetual futures contracts, meaning they do not expire, with up to 20x leverage across 67 markets. The markets span 36 individual equities (Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Coinbase), 24 crypto pairs, 3 equity indices, and 4 commodities (Brent crude, WTI, gold, silver). Leverage caps by asset: crypto, S&P 500, oil, gold, silver top out at 20x; individual stocks at 10x. The product runs on USDC collateral. Fees run 0.04% taker at entry level, competitive with Binance Futures. The product is available internationally only — the same US exclusion that governs Polymarket's existing binary prediction markets applies.
For UK readers, perpetual futures are a product more familiar from cryptocurrency exchanges than traditional derivatives venues. Unlike a standard futures contract, a perpetual has no settlement date — it tracks the underlying price via a funding rate mechanism that periodically transfers payments between long and short holders, keeping the contract price close to spot. Binance, Bybit, OKX, and dYdX pioneered the format; it now represents the majority of crypto derivatives volume globally. Polymarket's entry into this space is notable because the platform's primary identity has been as a binary prediction market — contracts that pay 0 or 1 based on a yes/no outcome. Perpetual futures on oil, gold, and individual stocks are a different product class: leveraged, continuous, and priced by supply and demand against a reference index rather than by a binary outcome event. The Polymarket brand now covers both categories, separated by geography.
The international-only restriction reflects the structural consequence of Polymarket's 2022 CFTC settlement. The agency fined Polymarket $1.4 million for operating an unregistered swaps facility — the legal category that perpetual futures on commodities and equities would fall into if offered to US persons. The settlement resulted in the two-entity structure currently in place: Polymarket International (non-US, binary prediction markets plus now perps) and Polymarket US (CFTC-registered, limited contract types). Offering 20x leveraged perps on oil and gold to US users without CFTC registration would violate the Commodity Exchange Act in exactly the way the 2022 settlement addressed. The international restriction is not a commercial choice — it is a legal requirement. UK users, as non-US persons, are not subject to this restriction, which is why the product is accessible to them.
The strategic implication for the prediction market sector is that the largest platforms are building toward full-service financial trading venues, with prediction markets as one product category rather than a standalone business. Polymarket International now offers leveraged derivatives on commodities alongside binary markets on election outcomes and sports results. Kalshi is pursuing institutional block trading with Cantor Fitzgerald and Susquehanna. The commercial ambition behind both platforms extends well beyond the sports wagering regulatory dispute — that dispute is fought over a product category that, at 20x leverage on oil futures, is now a smaller part of what these platforms aspire to be than the litigation landscape suggests.
Operators mentioned in this article
Recent updates
Utah Files Felony Charges Against Kalshi and Its Founders — Second State to Criminally Charge a Platform
Utah filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its two co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, on October 28 — 13 felonies and a misdemeanour, including a second-degree 'pattern of unlawful criminal activity' count and 12 counts of online gambling promotion. The charges stem from a September sting in which an undercover agent placed 12 sports wagers verified to be in Utah. The CFTC sued Utah the day before to block state enforcement, its tenth such suit. Utah is the second state after Arizona to criminally charge Kalshi, and the first to charge the founders personally. Kalshi called it a 'crazy overreach.'
NBA Names Kalshi and Polymarket Preferred Exchanges — Leaving the NFL Alone in Opposition
The NBA announced on October 26 that it has named Kalshi and Polymarket its 'preferred prediction market exchanges,' signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the CFTC on basketball integrity, and expanded its DraftKings deal to include prediction markets — the first league to extend a sportsbook partnership into the category. The exchange deals bar league and team personnel from trading NBA contracts, limit permissible markets, and require sharing suspicious-trading data, in exchange for NBA intellectual property and official data. The NBA joins MLB, the NHL, and MLS as partnered leagues, leaving the NFL as the lone major holdout — and the only league fighting the platforms in court.
CFTC Chair Says Agency Is Watching Prediction Markets for Manipulation Ahead of Midterms
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said on October 23 that the agency is closely monitoring prediction markets for manipulation ahead of the November 3 midterms, and that it is separately scrutinising oil market trading tied to President Trump's announcements about the war in Iran. Combined midterm open interest on Kalshi and Polymarket stood at $250 million as of October 18, with Kalshi holding 84%. Selig acknowledged the agency often catches political figures trading 'oftentimes after the fact.' The remarks highlight the CFTC's dual role as both the platforms' federal protector and their manipulation watchdog.