Polymarket has opened perpetual futures trading to the public, offering international users leverage of up to 20 times on crypto, stocks, commodities, and indices. The contracts have no expiry date and allow traders to take both long and short positions. Perpetuals have become one of the most heavily traded instruments in crypto, with high-leverage venues like Hyperliquid processing tens of billions of dollars in daily volume — a market Polymarket is now positioning itself to tap by moving beyond its core event-prediction products. (INTRODUCING | Polymarket Expands Beyond Prediction Markets with 20x Leveraged Perps Outside the U.S)

The irony is hard to miss. Polymarket is willing to offer 20x leverage to users around the world, but U.S. traders are blocked from the same product. The platform's documentation explicitly bars order placement from the United States, reflecting the different regulatory treatment of leveraged derivatives in that jurisdiction. In the U.S., leveraged retail crypto derivatives generally require registration and oversight, which is why access to such products is typically routed through regulated entities rather than offshore platforms.

The move places Polymarket in direct competition with offshore derivatives exchanges such as Hyperliquid, while U.S. users are directed to its separate U.S. platform. Meanwhile, rival prediction market operator Kalshi has already launched perpetual futures for U.S. traders under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight, marking a broader trend of leading prediction markets platforms moving into mainstream derivatives trading. For users, the stakes of this competition are practical: high leverage magnifies both gains and losses, and 20x leverage means a relatively small adverse price move can liquidate a position entirely. (Leading Prediction Markets Platforms Moving into Mainstream Derivatives Trading)

The regulatory paradox is stark: a product deemed too problematic to offer American traders can nonetheless be marketed at 20x leverage to eligible customers elsewhere. That gap highlights one of the central tensions in crypto derivatives — the same leverage can be viewed as a high-risk product abroad and a regulated financial product at home, depending largely on jurisdiction. How far regulators in other jurisdictions tolerate the expansion, and whether Polymarket seeks a regulated path for derivatives in the U.S. as Kalshi has done, will shape how far this push into mainstream trading can go.

The jurisdictional pressure on Polymarket is not limited to the United States. In France, the national gambling regulator has labeled Polymarket illegal and ordered internet service providers to block access to the platform. (REGULATION | France Gambling Regulator Labels Polymarket Illegal, Orders Internet Service Providers to Block Access)