Polymarket has made a significant change to its trading model by introducing taker-only fees for its short-term 15-minute crypto markets.
Quick Summary – TLDR:
- Polymarket now charges taker fees on its 15-minute crypto up/down markets.
- The fees peak at just over 3% near 50% odds, and taper off toward zero at probability extremes.
- Fees are not kept by the platform, but are redistributed to liquidity providers in USDC.
- This move aims to discourage high-frequency bots and improve market depth and fairness.
What Happened?
Polymarket quietly updated its documentation to reflect a new taker-fee structure on a specific category of markets: 15-minute crypto fluctuations. This ends its longstanding zero-fee approach for that product line. While no formal announcement was made, several traders noticed changes in the platform’s “Trading Fees” and “Maker Rebates Program” sections.
BREAKING: Polymarket appears to be introducing fees as high as 3% on the 15-minute Crypto up/Down Markets.
— JesterTheGoose (@Jesterthegoose) January 6, 2026
A new page on their documentation website has appeared, which strongly suggests that fees are about to be enabled for these markets. pic.twitter.com/8zIK4YoqI5
Polymarket Adjusts Strategy on Short-Term Markets
Polymarket’s new fee policy applies only to short-duration crypto markets, which are known for fast-paced, high-turnover activity and frequent automated trading. All other markets, such as political predictions, non-crypto events, and longer-term contracts remain completely fee-free.
Under the new model:
- Only takers pay fees.
- Fees vary based on market odds, peaking when odds are around 50%.
- Revenue is redistributed daily to liquidity providers in USDC.
- The platform does not retain any part of the fees.
This makes the move less about generating revenue and more about reshaping market behavior.
How the New Fee Structure Works?
The fee system is designed to scale with trading intensity:
- At 50% odds, a taker buying 100 shares at $0.50 would pay a fee of $1.56, which is a little over 3% of the trade’s value.
- As odds shift closer to 0% or 100%, the fee decreases sharply and can become negligible.
- Small trades benefit from rounding, reducing their effective cost even further.
This tiered structure ensures that directional bets or small positions incur minimal fees, while high-frequency strategies near midpoint odds bear most of the cost.
Why Polymarket Made the Change?
The platform’s 15-minute markets have been especially prone to wash trading and latency-based tactics, which can hurt passive liquidity and disadvantage regular users. By introducing taker fees and rerouting them to liquidity providers, Polymarket is changing incentives to attract more consistent and tighter spreads.
Social media reactions largely supported the update:
- X user 0x_opus said it would “increase protection from wash trading” and emphasized that Polymarket is not “starting to charge users in the classic sense.”
- Another trader, kiruwaaaaaa, described the move as a “counter to high-frequency bots”, highlighting the benefits for liquidity quality.
Limited Impact for Most Users
For most users, the impact is minor:
- All non-crypto and longer-term markets remain free.
- Fees only apply to a small segment of the platform’s offerings.
- Casual traders placing small or directional trades may barely notice the difference.
This suggests that Polymarket is testing the model rather than signaling a major pricing overhaul. If results are positive, such as reduced bot activity and improved liquidity. Similar fee structures may be rolled out to other fast-paced markets.
SQ Magazine Takeaway
I think this move by Polymarket is smart and timely. Short-term crypto markets can be chaotic, and bots often exploit the zero-fee model. By introducing targeted taker-only fees, Polymarket is making a bet on better liquidity and fairer trading. Plus, they’re doing it in a way that doesn’t punish everyday users or disrupt the broader fee-free experience. This is the kind of market engineering that prediction platforms need more of.
