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January 6 | Global crypto markets
For years, Polymarket built its reputation on a powerful promise: operating prediction markets commission-free, letting volume, liquidity and collective intelligence do the work. That narrative was key to attracting traders, analysts and algorithmic capital. However, when a product begins to grow too quickly, the ideal model clashes with operational reality.
š¬Polymarket has introduced trading commissions in a specific part of its platform: the fast-solving crypto markets that settle every 15 minutes. These markets allow users to bet whether the price of an asset will go up or down in extremely short intervals, becoming one of the most used products by algorithmic traders and bots since its launch in late 2025.
The change marks a break with the historical policy of the platform, which until now operated without charging direct fees to traders. According to the updated documentation, the vast majority of Polymarket markets will remain commission-free, but 15-minute crypto contracts now include a fee applied only to takers, that is, those who take liquidity from the book.
Polymarket explained that these commissions do not seek to maximize direct income, but rather finance an incentive program for market makers. Funds raised will be redistributed daily into USDC as liquidity redemptions, with the goal of improving market depth and reducing spreads on fast-moving products.
Although the company did not disclose the exact percentage, documentation indicates that fees can escalate to a maximum close to 3%, depending on the size of the trade and the probability point at which the order is executed. Commissions are highest when the market is near 50%, where uncertainty is maximum, and decrease as the probability approaches the extremes.
Currently, these fast markets cover assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP, and have become a high-rotation niche within the platform, even as the greatest volume continues to focus on political and macroeconomic events. Analysts agree that the movement responds more to a need for market structure adjustment than to a simple change in the business model.
Topic Opinion:
Introducing fees in the most active and speculative segment reveals that frictionless growth has limits, especially when bots, aggressive arbitrage and volatile liquidity come into play. At the same time, redirecting those commissions towards market makers shows a mature understanding of the problem: without healthy liquidity, the prediction loses meaning.
š¬ Is this the first step towards a more ātraditionalā Polymarket?
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