Polymarket vs XO Market
Same lines, side by side: fee at 50¢, custody, KYC, excluded countries, resolution and volume, from official pages and DefiLlama.
See the 13 differences
| Line | Polymarket | XO Market |
|---|---|---|
| Type | VenueLists, matches and settles its own markets | VenueLists, matches and settles its own markets |
| Taker fee | 0–3.5% at 50¢Takers pay contracts × rate × p × (1 − p): 0.07 in crypto, 0.05 in sports, economics, culture and weather, 0.04 in politics, finance, tech and mentions, 0 in geopolitics; combos 0.05. 100 contracts at 50¢ cost $1.75 in crypto, $1.25 in sports and $1.00 in politics. Makers pay nothing and share 15% to 25% of taker fees; deposits and withdrawals carry no Polymarket fee. | Edge3% at 50¢Takers pay shares × base rate × p × (1 − p). The base rate is 6% on Pulse rounds, so 100 contracts at 50¢ cost $1.50; other markets set their own. Makers pay nothing and receive 35% of the taker fee on eligible markets. Creating a market costs $1 plus a seed order of at least $10. |
| 30-day volume | Edge$2.31B | $66M |
| Custody | Self-custody: your keys, collateral in a smart contract | Self-custody smart wallet |
| Identity check (KYC) | Above a thresholdSign up with an email or a self-custody wallet; Polymarket asks its top-volume traders for more information. Its terms forbid using a VPN to get around a block. | No KYCNo identity check to open an account or trade; contest and referral payouts may require verification. |
| Excluded countries | 41Polymarket's API docs block Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk outright. In 37 other countries, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Brazil, plus British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec, you can only close positions you already hold; Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea are close-only on the website only, and Malta for sports only. The help center (14 August 2026) calls most of them fully blocked. US residents are sent to Polymarket US. | 8Its terms exclude the US, the UK, France, Singapore and Ontario, plus Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. No date is shown on the page. |
| Resolution | Optimistic oracleUMA's optimistic oracle: anyone proposes an outcome against a bond, typically $750 pUSD, then a two-hour challenge window opens. A second dispute goes to a vote of UMA token holders. Crypto up/down markets settle from Chainlink instead. | AI panel, human appealMODRA, a panel of independent AI agents, drafts the rules and proposes outcomes; when agents disagree or a trader challenges, a court of staked human jurors decides. XO can also void a market. |
| Settles on | Polygon | XO rollup (Celestia DA) |
| Collateral | pUSD | USDC |
| Operator | Adventure One QSS Inc. | Not documented |
| Token | No token | No token |
| Where it runs | Web | Web |
| Chains | EdgeEVMPolygon | — |
| Documented features | 4 of 10 | Edge6 of 10 |
| Order book | Yes | Yes |
| Anyone can create a market | No | Yes |
| Combos / parlays | Yes | Yes |
| Maker rebates | Yes | Yes |
| Yield on collateral | Not documented | Not documented |
| Trading API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | Not documented |
| Telegram bot | Not documented | Not documented |
| Own token | No | No |
| Points program | Not documented | Yes |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Polymarket if
You want to trade from your own wallet, without a document check, in a country Polymarket serves.
The crypto-native venue: a central order book settled on Polygon, collateral that stays in your wallet, and a fee that depends on the market's category, from nothing in geopolitics to 3.5% at 50¢ in crypto. Access is the catch: 41 countries are blocked or close-only, the US, the UK and France among them, and France's regulator has ordered internet providers to block the site.
Read the Polymarket reviewpolymarket.com
Pick XO Market if
You want to create your own markets and earn 20% of their lifetime trading fees.
The most open venue in the series: anyone can create a market for $1 plus a $10 seed, and a panel of AI agents resolves it, with staked human jurors on appeal. No company is named behind it, and its taker fee depends on the market: 3% at 50¢ on Pulse rounds.
Read the XO Market reviewxo.market
