US-based users are the biggest political bettors on Polymarket, despite the crypto-based prediction market’s efforts to restrict US citizens from using the decentralized platform, according to new research.
Blockchain research firm Allium estimated in a report published on Thursday that US-based users are the single biggest political market of any country by contracts traded and wallet count on Polymarket — not to be confused with Polymarket US, which is a US-regulated platform that launched in December with a narrower set of markets.
“Blocking access did not end US participation; it made the US the largest single political market on Polymarket by volume,” the report said. “The demand is still there, now offshore and beyond US oversight.”
The data suggests that Polymarket’s efforts to restrict US users from its global platform have not entirely worked, adding to an expanding list of headaches for the company in the fast-growing predictions market sector, which is under legal and political scrutiny.
Polymarket was forced to cut off US users’ access to its global platform as part of a $1.4 million settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2022.
Allium based its figures on the 6% of wallets it tagged with a country, meaning the data should be seen as directional only. Source: Allium
Allium found that US users are more interested in foreign conflict-related markets than the rest of the platform’s users, with five of the US cohort’s top 12 markets by notional volume relating to the Iran war.
It also shows a lesser interest in election-related markets, which is a category of prediction markets allowed on Kalshi and Polymarket US.
“US money pours into foreign wars, lately Iran, and largely skips the elections the global crowd trades,” said Allium.
Cointelegraph contacted Polymarket for comment.
Polymarket’s effort to geoblock US users
Allium’s figures align with another study published in June by Rutgers University statistician Harry Crane, who estimated that 30% of trading volume on Polymarket comes from the US.
Crane estimated that people based in the US sent between $10.6 billion and $26.7 billion through Polymarket between May 2025 and April 2026, despite Polymarket blocking US-based IP addresses and VPNs, which could be used to skirt the block.
The researcher looked at the times of day the trades were made and the markets in which the trades were made to link certain trades to US users.
An excerpt of Polymarket’s FAQ page on its geographic restrictions. Source: Polymarket
Polymarket has reportedly been clamping down on users who use VPNs by blocking certain IP addresses tied to VPN services, The Information reported in May.
Related: Polymarket hit by $2.9M theft, users to be refunded
Where is Polymarket blocked?
Polymarket is completely blocked in more than 34 countries, the latest being Spain, which blocked local users from Polymarket and Kalshi as a “precautionary measure” as authorities open an investigation into whether the companies are operating without necessary licensing.
Another four countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Poland, are in “close only,” meaning users in these countries can close existing positions but cannot open new trades.
There are also four restricted regions, Ontario in Canada, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine, where Polymarket is blocked but is available elsewhere in the country.
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