Guide · 2026-07-03 · 9 min read · By Vsevolod

Polymarket Perps: How to Trade With Leverage

Polymarket now has its own Perps product—but it trades perpetual futures on crypto, stocks, and commodities (think BTC, NVDA, gold), not on prediction-market outcomes. If what you want is leverage on the actual event markets—who wins the election, the match, the vote—you get it a different way: by borrowing against your Polymarket shares through PredMart, up to 5x, with no fixed expiry and interest instead of a funding rate. This guide walks through exactly how that works, what it costs, and how to manage liquidation risk.

What Traders Mean by "Polymarket Perps"

Since 2026, "Polymarket perps" can mean two different things, and it's worth separating them:

• Polymarket's own Perps product — perpetual futures on crypto, stocks, and commodities (BTC, NVDA, gold and the like), launched to compete with venues like Hyperliquid. These track a continuous asset price, use a funding rate, and have nothing to do with election or sports outcomes.
• Leverage on prediction-market outcomes — amplified exposure to the actual event questions ("will X win?"), held without a fixed expiry. This is what most traders coming from prediction markets are really after, and it's what the rest of this guide covers.

The two are complementary, not the same. If you're here for leveraged BTC or NVDA exposure, that's Polymarket's Perps tab. If you want to trade the event outcomes with leverage, keep reading.

Why the Event Outcomes Can't Be Perps (But Crypto Can)

Polymarket's Perps work on crypto, stocks, and commodities because those assets have a continuous price that never stops—a funding rate can tether the perpetual contract to that live spot price. Bitcoin trades 24/7, so a BTC perp always has something to track.

Prediction-market outcomes don't work that way. An election happens, a company reports earnings, a Fed decision lands—and the shares resolve to $1 (correct) or $0 (incorrect). There's no perpetual underlying to anchor to and no natural funding counterparty, so you can't wrap the outcome itself in a classic funding-rate perp. That's precisely why Polymarket put its Perps on continuous assets, not on the event shares.

But the leverage demand remains: traders still want exposure to the outcomes beyond their own capital. That's where lending-based leverage fills the gap—you borrow against your shares instead of trading a synthetic perp. For the deeper conceptual breakdown, see do prediction markets have perps?.

How to Trade Polymarket "Perps" With Leverage

Here's the step-by-step process to get leveraged exposure on Polymarket through PredMart:

Step 1: Choose your market. Browse Polymarket for an outcome you want exposure to. Politics, crypto prices, sports, entertainment—any market works. Check the order book depth; thin markets may limit your available leverage because PredMart calculates your maximum position size based on how much liquidity the book can absorb without excessive slippage.

Step 2: Deposit collateral. You have two options: - Deposit USDC directly — PredMart uses your USDC as collateral and buys Polymarket shares on your behalf at your chosen leverage. - Deposit existing Polymarket shares — If you already hold shares, deposit them as collateral and borrow USDC against them. This unlocks liquidity from positions you're already holding.

Step 3: Select your leverage. Choose anywhere from 1x to 5x. Higher leverage means more exposure but tighter liquidation thresholds. At 5x, you control $5 worth of shares for every $1 of collateral. At 3x, the math shifts to $3 of exposure per $1. Consider your conviction level and time horizon—higher leverage suits short-term trades where you expect quick resolution; lower leverage works better for positions you plan to hold through uncertainty.

Step 4: PredMart executes the position. When you confirm, PredMart: 1. Calculates your borrow amount based on leverage 2. Lends you USDC from the lending pool 3. Buys Polymarket shares through the order book 4. Holds the shares as collateral securing your loan

Step 5: Hold your position. Your leveraged position stays open with no expiry. Interest accrues on the borrowed USDC, but there's no rollover, no contract expiration, no forced settlement until the Polymarket event resolves.

Step 6: Close when ready. You can exit at any time before market resolution. PredMart sells your shares, repays the loan plus accrued interest, deducts fees, and returns your remaining equity. If the market resolves while you're still in, your position closes automatically at the resolution price.

For a comprehensive walkthrough of every feature, see the complete guide to leverage trading on Polymarket.

What It Costs: Interest, Not Funding

Traditional perps charge funding rates—periodic payments between longs and shorts that anchor the perp price to spot. PredMart uses a different model: you pay borrow interest on the USDC you've borrowed from the lending pool.

Borrow interest accrues continuously on your outstanding loan. The rate is variable, determined by pool utilization—when more capital is borrowed from the pool, rates rise; when utilization drops, rates fall. This replaces the funding rate you'd pay on perps. Learn the mechanics at how interest accrues.

Risk-based entry fee charges up to approximately 7% of your deposit at position open. This fee scales with the risk profile of your trade: cheaper contracts (shares priced near $0.10) and more volatile markets incur higher fees. This compensates the lending pool for the additional risk of liquidating positions in uncertain conditions.

Profit fee takes 10% of your gains when you close a winning position. If you deposit $200 and withdraw $300, the $100 profit incurs a $10 fee. Losing positions pay no profit fee.

This fee structure differs from perps in important ways. You won't see your position eroded by negative funding during extended holds. Instead, you'll pay a predictable interest rate that compounds over time. For multi-week or multi-month positions, compare the cumulative interest against what funding would have cost on an equivalent perp.

One advantage of the lending model: interest rates tend to be more stable than perp funding, which can swing wildly based on market sentiment. When everyone rushes to long Bitcoin, funding rates can spike to 100%+ annualized. Pool utilization-based interest moves more gradually, making costs easier to forecast over your holding period.

Worked Example: A 5x Polymarket Position

Let's trace a concrete trade from open to close.

Opening the position: - You deposit $200 USDC - You select 5x leverage - PredMart lends you $800 from the pool - Total position size: $1,000 worth of Polymarket shares

Assume the shares are priced at $0.50 each. You now hold 2,000 shares, controlling $1,000 of exposure with $200 of your own capital. Note that an entry fee (risk-based, up to ~7%) applies at open, so your actual borrowed amount may be slightly lower than $800 depending on the market's risk profile.

While holding: - Interest accrues on the $800 loan - If the pool rate is 15% APR, you'll owe roughly $0.33 per day in interest ($800 x 0.15 / 365) - Hold for 30 days and you've accrued about $10 in interest

Price moves in your favor: - Shares rise from $0.50 to $0.60 - Your 2,000 shares are now worth $1,200 - You close the position - PredMart repays the $800 loan plus $10 interest - Remaining: $390 - Profit: $190, minus 10% profit fee ($19) - You receive: $371

A 20% price move on the underlying translated to an 85% return on your $200 deposit (before the full fee stack). That's the power of 5x leverage—it amplifies gains on prediction market outcomes the same way it would on any leveraged trade, letting you maximize returns when your thesis is correct.

Price moves against you: - At 5x leverage, your liquidation threshold sits around a 15-16% adverse price move - If shares drop from $0.50 to approximately $0.42-$0.43, liquidation triggers - The entire position closes (whole-position liquidation) - A 5% liquidator fee is taken - No surplus returns to you

This asymmetry—keeping gains minus fees, losing everything in liquidation—makes position sizing and margin buffers critical. Unlike partial liquidation systems that reduce your position incrementally, whole-position liquidation means a single adverse move can wipe out your entire investment. Plan your leverage accordingly.

Managing Liquidation Risk

PredMart uses depth-weighted mark price for liquidation triggers. This isn't last trade price or mid-price; it simulates selling approximately $1,000 of your shares into the live order book. This approach resists manipulation but means your liquidation threshold responds to order book depth, not just price levels.

Key liquidation facts: - Entry LTV: 80% maximum loan-to-value when opening - Liquidation LTV: 85%—when your loan value hits 85% of your collateral value, liquidation triggers - At 5x leverage: Roughly 15-16% adverse price movement triggers liquidation - At 3x leverage: You have more room—approximately 25-30% before liquidation - Liquidation style: Whole-position (Binance-futures-style)—the entire position closes, not a partial reduction - Liquidator fee: 5% of position value - Surplus: None returned—if there's any value left after repaying the loan and fees, it goes to the liquidator as incentive

To avoid liquidation: - Use lower leverage. 3x gives you nearly double the room to breathe compared to 5x. - Maintain a margin buffer. Don't run at maximum LTV. See how much margin buffer you need for specific guidance. - Monitor order book depth. Thin books can shift your liquidation price unexpectedly. - Close before resolution if uncertain. As resolution approaches, volatility can spike.

For a detailed breakdown of liquidation mechanics, including why PredMart uses full liquidation rather than partial, see full vs partial liquidation and the liquidation documentation.

Polymarket Perps vs PredMart Leverage

The core tradeoff: PredMart offers lower maximum leverage but applies it to prediction-market outcomes—something no perp exchange, including Polymarket's own Perps product (which covers crypto and stocks), provides. You're not betting on the price of an asset; you're betting on real-world event outcomes with magnified exposure.

Key differences to understand: perps can go long or short with equal ease, while PredMart leverage works by holding Polymarket shares (effectively a long position on that outcome). Funding rates on perps can sometimes pay you to hold a position; borrow interest always costs you. And perp leverage often reaches 20x or higher, while PredMart caps at 5x to maintain sustainable risk for the lending pool.

FAQ

Does Polymarket have perps? Yes—in 2026 Polymarket launched a Perps product for crypto, stocks, and commodities (BTC, NVDA, gold), competing with venues like Hyperliquid. What it does not offer is a perp on the event outcomes themselves (elections, sports, Fed decisions), because those shares resolve to $0 or $1 and can't anchor a funding rate. Leverage on the outcomes comes from borrowing against your shares—the lending model described here.

Is there a funding rate on PredMart? No. Instead of funding rates, you pay borrow interest on the USDC you've borrowed from the lending pool. The rate varies with pool utilization but is always paid by the borrower—there's no scenario where you receive funding.

Can I hold a leveraged position forever? You can hold until the Polymarket market resolves. There's no fixed expiry or rollover, but when the underlying event happens and shares resolve, your position closes automatically.

How much leverage can I use? Up to 5x. At maximum leverage, your entry loan-to-value is 80%, and liquidation triggers at 85% LTV—roughly a 15-16% adverse price move. Lower leverage gives proportionally more room before liquidation.

What happens when the market resolves? Your position closes at the resolution price. If your shares resolve to $1, you receive the full value minus loan repayment, interest, and fees. If they resolve to $0, you lose your collateral (the loan is repaid from whatever value remains, with any shortfall absorbed by the lending pool's reserves).

Trade with up to 5x leverage on PredMart: https://predmart.com

Related

• Do Prediction Markets Have Perps? Leverage Trading Explained
• Leverage Trading on Polymarket: Complete Guide
• How Much Margin Buffer Do Polymarket Traders Need?