When you ask where a company is based, you usually expect a simple answer: a city, a state, a headquarters. With Polymarket, the answer isn’t that easy, because it’s not a traditional company.
On paper, the team behind Polymarket and its founder, Shayne Coplan, have been associated with New York City. That’s the hub for much of the development and strategy. But the platform itself? It doesn’t “live” there.
Polymarket is based on the blockchain.
Specifically, it runs on the Polygon network, a global, decentralized system. This means there isn’t a central server in an office building that can be unplugged. The platform exists on thousands of computers around the world simultaneously. This is a core feature of how Polymarket works.
This decentralized structure is intentional. It provides a level of resilience and censorship resistance that a centralized company could never achieve. It’s also directly related to the platform’s global accessibility and the complex question of where is Polymarket legal. By not being tied to a single physical jurisdiction, it can operate in a more global, internet-native way.
This also redefines the concept of ownership. While we know who owns Polymarket in terms of its founding, the platform’s value and operation are driven by its community of users, not a top-down corporate structure.
So, where is Polymarket based? The simple answer is New York, if you’re talking about the team. But the real, more accurate answer is that it’s based on the internet. It exists wherever its users are, secured by the blockchain, and not confined to any single address on a map.