Is the prediction market starting to charge fees? Polymarket introduces order eating fees in the 15-minute market

Polymarket quietly changed its long-standing zero-fee trading model. According to the latest updated documentation of the prediction market platform, the 15-minute cryptocurrency price movement markets now feature a maker-taker fee mechanism to fund liquidity incentives for market makers. Although this change has not been officially announced, the archived documentation confirms it is a new addition. This marks an optimization of the platform’s business model, which was once renowned for “no fees.”

Key Points of the Fee Mechanism

How the maker-taker fee works

Polymarket’s introduction of fees in the 15-minute cryptocurrency markets has several notable features:

• Fees are only charged to the taker (the party executing the trade actively), while market makers (liquidity providers) are not charged
• The collected fees are redistributed daily to liquidity providers in the form of USDC stablecoins
• Fees are earned by liquidity providers, not retained by the Polymarket protocol
• This change applies only to the 15-minute cryptocurrency markets; the vast majority of other markets remain fee-free

Why this design

This fee structure essentially reflects a core issue faced by prediction markets: liquidity. The 15-minute markets are high-frequency trading scenarios requiring sufficient liquidity support. By charging takers and distributing the proceeds to market makers, Polymarket creates a self-consistent incentive mechanism—encouraging more participants to provide liquidity while active traders (takers) pay for this convenience.

In contrast, if the platform retained all fees itself, it would be purely a commercial revenue model. Polymarket’s choice to direct all fees to liquidity providers indicates that the platform prioritizes ensuring market depth and activity.

What this change signifies

Impact on users

From a user perspective, this change mainly affects two groups:

• Taker traders: face higher trading costs, as active trades in the 15-minute markets now require paying fees
• Market makers: gain an additional revenue stream, earning the fees paid by takers for providing liquidity

For most casual prediction participants who mainly trade in other markets (not the 15-minute cryptocurrency markets), the impact is limited.

Signal of platform development stage

Polymarket’s shift from zero fees to selective fee implementation reflects several realities:

First, prediction markets are entering a more competitive phase. Reports indicate that competitors like Kalshi, Opinion, and others are growing rapidly. Polymarket needs to optimize liquidity to maintain competitiveness.

Second, the 15-minute cryptocurrency markets, as high-frequency trading scenarios, have particularly strong liquidity demands. Introducing fees in this market could serve as a pilot; if successful, the model might be gradually expanded to other markets.

Third, by choosing not to retain any fees but instead distribute all to liquidity providers, Polymarket’s strategy appears to be focused on expanding the market size rather than quick monetization. This aligns with its positioning as an open prediction market platform.

Possible future developments

Based on this change, some reasonable speculations include:

Polymarket may gradually introduce similar fee mechanisms in other high-frequency or high-liquidity-demand markets. If the 15-minute crypto market pilot effectively enhances liquidity and trading experience, this model could be replicated elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the platform might continue to keep most markets fee-free to maintain its “open prediction market” branding, with fees only activated in specific scenarios.

Another possibility is that, as the prediction market industry matures, more platforms will adopt similar liquidity incentive models, becoming industry standards.

Summary

This change by Polymarket is essentially an optimization of market structure rather than a simple monetization move. By introducing maker-taker fees in the 15-minute cryptocurrency markets and fully distributing them to liquidity providers, the platform establishes a self-consistent incentive system—traders pay for liquidity, liquidity providers earn rewards, ultimately benefiting the overall market depth and activity.

This seemingly modest update actually reflects a pragmatic adjustment in response to increasing competition among prediction market platforms. The key future questions are whether this fee mechanism can truly boost liquidity in the 15-minute markets and whether it will be extended to other markets. For prediction market participants, it’s also a signal: the era of “completely zero fees” may be passing, but the fee design logic will determine whether a platform remains worthwhile to use.