Polymarket Introduces Taker Fees for 15-Minute Cryptocurrency Markets

Polymarket, a prediction market platform, has revised its documentation to indicate that taker fees will now apply to 15-minute crypto up/down markets, marking a shift from its previous zero-fee trading approach.

According to the recently updated sections on “Trading Fees” and “Maker Rebates Program” in the site’s documentation, the platform has introduced taker-only fees on 15-minute crypto markets to support liquidity incentives for market makers.

The fees collected from takers will be redistributed daily in USDC (USDC) stablecoin to liquidity providers, rather than being kept by the protocol. This change applies solely to short-duration crypto markets, while the majority of Polymarket’s offerings remain fee-free.

The fees will vary according to market odds, with the highest charges occurring when odds are near 50%. However, fees decline as odds approach 0% or 100%. Based on examples in the documentation, a taker trade of 100 shares at a price of $0.50 would incur approximately a $1.56 fee, slightly above 3% of the trade’s value at the peak of the curve.

The update emerged without an official announcement, but reviews of archived documentation suggest that this fee language is new.

Related: Prediction markets expand into real estate with Polymarket–Parcl deal

A liquidity incentive and not a platform-wide tax

The quiet launch has prompted discussions on social media, where community members characterized the change as a market-structure adjustment rather than just a fee increase.

X user 0x_opus commented that the change would “enhance protection against wash trading,” emphasizing that Polymarket is not “starting to charge users in the traditional sense,” since the fees are redirected to market makers.

Another trader, who goes by kiruwaaaaaa, described the shift as “targeted against high-frequency bots,” arguing that fee-funded rebates would encourage tighter spreads and more reliable liquidity.

User Tawer955 provided a more in-depth breakdown, labeling the headline “alarming, but not as negative as it seems.” He indicated that the system fosters a sustainable cash flow for liquidity providers while reducing incentives for bots that previously took advantage of free liquidity.

For most users of Polymarket, the overall effect will be minimal. The new fees do not apply to longer-term event markets, political markets, or non-crypto predictions, which will remain without fees.

Even in markets where fees are applicable, the structure mitigates the impact on small or directional trades. Fees decrease sharply near probability extremes and are rounded down for very small trades.