What is the legality for US residents?

Right now Polymarket is subject to a federal agreement that they don't let US people participate. Apparently this is just a checkbox for the user to attest to. They don't even do IP geolocation, never mind payment checks.

So it's currently illegal for them to run this in the US. But is it illegal for users to participate?

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extraduder_ire an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Despite looking like a gambling website, the underlying system is a cryptocurrency exchange. With a separate cryptocurrency used as an oracle to decide (yes/no/later) if the yes or no side won. The site itself if pretty hands off with the actual financials. (though, they once did refund people when the oracle system resolved incorrectly)

I don't think this convoluted setup is enough to avoid US gambling laws, but it is important to keep in mind how it actually works.

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shimman 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's okay, when the next administration enforces the laws we'll see all the VC ghouls attack and decry the government for having the audacity to protect citizens from abuse.

	▲	giantg2 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Polymarket has been around for a while. I thought the agreement happened under the Biden admin, but I could be wrong.

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pseudalopex 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Right now Polymarket is subject to a federal agreement that they don't let US people participate.

This changed last month.

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giantg2 an hour ago | parent [-]

What changed?

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halfmatthalfcat an hour ago | parent [-]

They bought a CFTC regulated exchange

	▲	giantg2 21 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, but they're still enforcing the location stuff. I don't think they've fully switched over to regulated contracts.

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0x3f 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They do check geolocation on order submit. You can read the site from anywhere, though.

	▲	giantg2 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Ah, I did not get that far in the enrollment process. Thanks!