Polymarket: KYC limited to beta, not main platform

Polymarket’s vice president of engineering, Josh Stevens, wrote on X that identity verification will be required only for early access to a limited beta and will not be added to the existing Polymarket.com platform.

Stevens wrote the company is launching a limited beta for a select group of users and that KYC is necessary only to gain early access during that test period. “No KYC is being added to any part of existing polymarket.com with this launch,” he wrote, adding that once the product leaves beta, no KYC will be required to use it.

When asked whether verification could be introduced more broadly, Stevens replied “no,” and clarified the checks are tied to early-access privileges rather than a change to pseudonymous trading on the main market.

The clarification follows reports that Polymarket had considered mandatory user verification as regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets increased.

Polymarket’s website lists dozens of restricted jurisdictions. Some users are blocked from placing orders; others are limited to closing existing positions.

Regulatory actions earlier this year affected several markets. In April, Brazilian authorities ordered the blocking of 27 prediction market platforms, citing operations outside the country’s legal framework. In May, Spain’s gambling regulator blocked local users from Polymarket and another platform as a precaution while legal proceedings over alleged unlicensed gambling activity continued.

Polymarket has held discussions with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission about a possible U.S. relaunch and has explored entry into Japan, where gambling laws are strict.

Polymarket did not respond to requests for comment.