Polymarket US volume rose 266% as combo and sports contracts led October trading

Polymarket’s US exchange recorded $14.77 billion in October trading volume, up about 266% from $4.04 billion in June, as combination contracts and sports markets dominated activity. The figures use the full payout value of contracts, rather than the amount a trader paid to enter a position, under TickerTracker’s methodology.

Combination, or multi-leg, contracts generated $8.6 billion in October, equivalent to 58.2% of the exchange’s volume. Sports contracts accounted for a further $4.57 billion, or 31%.

Sports activity had already accelerated during the FIFA World Cup. Soccer contracts produced $1.81 billion of volume in June, compared with $85.4 million in May, and activity continued into the NFL season. The trajectory fits the wider sports-led expansion in prediction-market trading covered in our Nov. 3 report.

Polymarket reopened to US traders through a separate domestic exchange late in 2025 and widened access in May, after blocking Americans from its international platform following a 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC formally designated QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, as a contract market on July 9, 2025, finding it could meet the core principles for designated contract markets.

The company said annualized revenue had surpassed $1.8 billion, from a run rate of more than $1 billion in June. It attributed much of that growth to the domestic exchange. Polymarket is also pursuing a $1 billion financing round at a reported $21 billion post-money valuation, with 1789 Capital expected to contribute about $300 million.

Election trading picked up around the Nov. 3 midterms, although it remained relatively small on the US exchange. Election-related contracts generated $108.2 million from Nov. 1 through Nov. 10, compared with $16.6 million during all of September, while political markets made up 2.2% of November volume. Across Polymarket’s two exchanges, midterm-contract volume was nearly $700 million during the week examined by CNBC; that analysis excluded combination markets.

The expansion has unfolded amid a continuing jurisdictional dispute over sports-event contracts. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Polymarket in September, alleging that its sports products violated state gambling law. The CFTC has defended federal authority over prediction markets and is pursuing litigation involving 10 states over their attempts to apply state gambling laws to the platforms.

The CFTC is also investigating whether Polymarket violated its 2022 settlement by allowing US residents to access its international platform. Separately, Senators John Curtis and Adam Schiff asked the agency in June to examine allegations that Polymarket paid social-media influencers to promote fabricated trades. Polymarket said it was auditing active promotional content for compliance with its standards and applicable disclosure requirements.