Polymarket launches five-minute crypto Up/Down contracts in U.S.

Polymarket rolled out five-minute crypto up-or-down contracts on its U.S. platform on Oct. 28, letting traders bet on whether BTC, ETH, SOL or XRP finishes a five-minute window above or below its starting price. A correct prediction pays a fixed $1 per share; an incorrect one pays nothing — a binary, options-style structure run by QCX LLC under CFTC oversight.

The launch comes as the CFTC investigates Polymarket's compliance with its 2022 settlement and examines customer protections on its U.S. platform, per Reuters. Earlier five-minute bitcoin contracts, which debuted in February, drew a working paper flagging heavy trading just before expiry and suspected settlement manipulation — findings that predate Polymarket's August switch to time-weighted average price settlement.

• Kalshi recorded more than $1 billion in crypto event-contract trading in March, and Nasdaq and Cboe have considered similar binary products.