Rates checked against Polymarket’s documentation and change log on 11 October 2026.
The short answer
Every crypto market on Polymarket — 5-minute, 15-minute, hourly, daily and weekly “Up or Down” rounds and price-target markets — uses the same fee rate, 0.07, the highest of any category. A $100 instant buy at 50¢ pays $3.50; at 20¢ it pays $5.60. A limit order that waits for its price pays no fee.
To see what crypto trading cost you in the last 30 days, to the cent, type your Polymarket @name or paste your address into the free check above.
The fee on a $100 crypto bet
Fee = shares × 0.07 × price × (1 − price), with the price in dollars. On a $100 bet it comes to $7 × (1 − price):
| Price | Fee on a $100 instant buy | Win at least this often to break even |
|---|---|---|
| 10¢ | $6.30 | 10.63% |
| 20¢ | $5.60 | 21.12% |
| 50¢ | $3.50 | 51.75% |
| 80¢ | $1.40 | 81.12% |
| 90¢ | $0.70 | 90.63% |
The same table on sports would be about 29% lower: the sports rate is 0.05. Any other price or amount: fee calculator.
When each crypto market got its fee
- 5 January 2026 — 15-minute crypto markets get a trading fee.
- 12 February 2026 — 5-minute markets launched, with the fee from the start.
- 6 March 2026 — new hourly, 4-hour, daily and weekly crypto markets.
- 30 March 2026 — Polymarket’s second fee structure: one formula for every category, crypto at 0.07.
Source: Polymarket change log. Older guides that show a fee curve with a peak of 1.56% at 50¢ describe the 15-minute fee before 30 March; today the fee at 50¢ is 3.5% of the money bet.
Why short rounds add up
A 5-minute round is over in five minutes, so a trader can place dozens a day. Each instant buy pays the fee again. 100 bets of $10 at 50¢ a day is $35 in fees a day, $1,050 over 30 days. In 38 public wallets that mostly traded 5-minute rounds, the typical one paid about 2.95% of the money it bet in fees (5-minute markets: what we saw).
On a 50¢ round the fee also moves the break-even line from 50% to 51.75% of rounds won. Over many rounds, that gap is what turns a month around.
What comes back on crypto
- Fee return by level. Since 28 May 2026 Polymarket returns 3% to 50% of the fee on instant trades. Crypto trades count 2.3 times toward the level, more than any other market (how the levels work).
- Limit orders. A limit order that waits and trades pays no fee and gets a share of a daily pool: 20% of the fees paid in that crypto market.
- Holding rewards. Some long-running price-target markets for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins pay a holding reward of 3.25% a year on the value of positions (Polymarket help).
Questions
What is the fee on Polymarket crypto markets?
The rate is 0.07 for every crypto market: fee = shares × 0.07 × price × (1 − price). A $100 instant buy pays $3.50 at 50¢ and $5.60 at 20¢. Limit orders that wait for their price pay nothing.
Are 15-minute markets cheaper than 5-minute markets?
No. Both use the same rate, 0.07. A trader on 5-minute rounds usually pays more in a month only because there are three times as many rounds to trade.
Do I pay a fee when the round settles?
No. A winning share pays $1 with no fee. The fee is taken when you buy or sell instantly.