Polymarket rewards and rebates in 2026
Polymarket runs several reward programs: liquidity rewards for resting orders near the midpoint, maker rebates funded by taker fees, taker rebates of 3–50% by volume tier, holding rewards on positions in selected long-term markets, and a separate rewards pool for Perps makers. Most of the money goes to large, active traders.
The programs at a glance
| Program | Who earns | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Liquidity rewards | Makers with qualifying orders on the book in incentivised markets | Daily at midnight UTC, $1 minimum |
| Maker rebates | Makers whose orders are filled in fee-charging markets | Daily in pUSD, $1 minimum |
| Taker rebates | Takers above $2,000 of 30-day weighted volume | Daily at midnight UTC in pUSD, $1 minimum |
| Holding rewards | Anyone holding positions in selected long-term markets | Daily |
| Perps liquidity rewards | Perps makers with at least 1% of 7-day maker volume | Daily in pUSD |
All terms are set at Polymarket's discretion and can change or stop at any time. Rewards can be withheld for wash trading or other activity that breaks the terms.
Liquidity rewards
Selected markets have a daily reward budget, a maximum spread and a minimum order size, shown in the market's reward settings. Polymarket samples the order book once a minute at a random moment, up to 1,440 times a day, and scores each qualifying order with a quadratic formula: the closer to the midpoint, the higher the score, falling to zero at the maximum spread. When the midpoint is between 10¢ and 90¢, one-sided quotes still score but at a third of the rate; outside that range only two-sided quotes count. Your share of the day's budget equals your share of all makers' scores.
Realistic economics: rewards are spread among everyone quoting the market, and serious makers run bots that keep tight quotes all day. A person who leaves one order up for a few hours earns cents. Your orders can also fill, which creates the inventory and adverse-selection risks described in market making. A temporary extra $1M pool for short-term crypto markets ran in August 2026 and has ended.
Maker rebates
Takers pay a fee; part of it goes back to the makers they traded against. The share is 20% in crypto, 15% in sports and 25% in finance, politics, economics, culture, weather, tech, mentions and other markets. Geopolitics is fee-free, so there is nothing to share. Your rebate in each market = your fee equivalent ÷ all makers' fee equivalent in that market × the rebate pool, where fee equivalent = shares × feeRate × price × (1 − price). Only filled orders count.
Realistic economics: on 1,000 shares filled at 50¢ in a politics market, the fee equivalent is $10 and the maximum rebate is $2.50 if you were the only maker. Worth having, but small next to the spread and price risk.
Ready to try it? Check it is available where you live, then open Polymarket.
Open PolymarketTaker rebate tiers
Since 28 May 2026, takers earn a share of their own fees back based on 30-day weighted volume (wV). wV = trade size in dollars × (1 − entry price) × category weight. The weights are 1.0 for sports, 1.3 for politics, finance, mentions and tech, 1.7 for economics, culture, weather and other, 2.3 for crypto, and 0 for geopolitics.
| Tier | 30-day wV | Rebate | One-time bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | $2,000 | 3% | $10 |
| Silver | $20,000 | 8% | $50 |
| Gold | $200,000 | 18% | $250 |
| Platinum | $1,000,000 | 32% | $1,500 |
| Diamond | $4,000,000 | 44% | $7,500 |
| Obsidian | $10,000,000+ | 50% | $25,000 |
Tiers are recalculated daily, rebates apply only to trades after you reach a tier, and there is no backfill. Realistic economics: a rebate never makes a losing trade profitable; it only shrinks the fee. Bronze returns 3% of fees you would not pay at all as a maker. Trading more to reach a tier is a classic way to lose money.
Holding rewards
Polymarket pays holding rewards on positions in a short list of long-dated markets, funded by its treasury. As of its June 2026 help article the rate was 3.25% a year on the value of your YES and NO positions in 18 eligible events, including the 2028 US presidential race, 2026 congressional control, several world leaders leaving office before 2027, a Russia–Ukraine ceasefire before 2027 and 2026 crypto price targets. Position value is sampled hourly at the midpoint and paid daily. The rate is variable and payouts can be capped.
Realistic economics: on $1,000 of eligible positions, 3.25% a year is about $2.70 a month. It reduces the cost of holding a long-term view, but it does not compensate for a position that is wrong.
Perps liquidity rewards
Polymarket Perps has its own maker program: a $75,000 daily budget split evenly across active Perps markets, with a $1,000 first-day bonus for newly listed ones. To qualify, an account needs at least 1% of the trailing 7-day maker volume in a market, and only two-sided quotes within 20 basis points of the midpoint score. This is built for professional market makers.
Bottom line
For most people the useful lesson is simple: use limit orders, avoid crossing the spread, and treat any rebate as a small bonus. Don't change how or how much you trade just to chase rewards. For referral earnings see the referral program.
Frequently asked questions
How do Polymarket liquidity rewards work?
Selected markets pay a daily budget to makers whose resting orders sit within a set spread of the midpoint and meet a minimum size. The book is sampled every minute and rewards are split by score.
What are Polymarket taker rebate tiers?
Since 28 May 2026, takers get 3% (Bronze) to 50% (Obsidian) of their fees back depending on 30-day weighted volume, from $2,000 to $10 million or more.
Does Polymarket pay interest on positions?
It pays variable holding rewards on positions in a short list of long-term markets, 3.25% a year as of June 2026. Cash balances and most markets earn nothing.