Polymarket clarified KYC checks apply only to a limited beta product, not its main platform.
Polymarket vice president of engineering Josh Stevens announced on May 27 that the prediction market platform is not adding mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) checks to its existing service, following a report that the company had considered user verification requirements.
Stevens clarified that Polymarket is launching a new beta product for a select group of users and that identity checks are required only to access that beta during its early test period. "No KYC is being added to any part of existing polymarket(dot)com with this launch," Stevens wrote on X. He added that once the product exits beta, no KYC will be required to use it.
In a follow-up post, Stevens addressed questions about whether identity checks could be introduced at a later stage, answering "no" and clarifying that the requirement is tied exclusively to early access for the new beta product. The clarification followed a report from The Information that said Polymarket had considered mandatory KYC requirements amid growing pressure from regulators. Cointelegraph said it reached out to Polymarket and Stevens for further comment but had not received a response by publication.
The update comes as Polymarket faces widening access restrictions across multiple jurisdictions. As of Thursday, the platform listed dozens of restricted jurisdictions, including markets where users are blocked from placing orders entirely and others where access is limited to closing existing positions, according to Polymarket's own documentation.
In April, Brazil moved to block 27 predictionmarket platforms, including Polymarket and Kalshi, after authorities determined the services operated outside the country's legal framework. Earlier in May, Spain's gambling regulator blocked local users from both platforms as a precautionary measure while authorities review the services under local regulations.
Despite the restrictions, Polymarket has continued pursuing expansion in major markets. In April, the company was reportedly in discussions with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission over a broader relaunch in the United States. In May, it was reportedly seeking entry into Japan despite the country's strict gambling laws, according to Cointelegraph.
The platform's regulatory situation reflects broader uncertainty facing decentralized prediction markets globally, as jurisdictions apply varying legal frameworks to services that allow users to place financial positions on real-world event outcomes. Polymarket has not publicly commented on how it plans to navigate the growing list of access restrictions while simultaneously pursuing new market approvals.
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