Polymarket has cut its "proposal reward," the payment offered to users who submit match results for settlement, by 60% to $0.80 from $2 for newly created soccer contracts, according to its public market feed.
- The Coinformer's review of more than 37,450 recently closed contracts across 16 comparable types of soccer bets shows those carrying the lower reward take a median 5.96 hours to close after scheduled kickoff, compared with 4.13 hours under the previous terms, a 44% increase.
- Among the slowest 10%, closing time rises to 13.04 hours from 5.77 hours.
The comparison points to a slowdown, although it doesn't prove the reward cut causes it because the contracts cover different matches and leagues.
They account for roughly $67,000 in open interest, the value of positions still outstanding. About 4,400 carry the 80-cent reward, while 3,798 remain open more than three days after kickoff.
Less pay, still-heavy risk
Polymarket rewards proposers who formally submit the winning outcome after it becomes known, using the market's predefined source and rules. They post collateral, and others have two hours to challenge the proposal.
The same system applies to sports, politics, crypto and most other Polymarket markets, although rewards and collateral vary.
- With sports markets, the collateral at risk falls only 33.3% to $500 from $750, compared with the 60% reward cut.
- That means one failed proposal now requires 625 successful 80-cent submissions to recover the loss, up from 375 under the previous structure, a 66.7% increase.
New market records list a $250 bond component, while UMA's rules add a separate $250 final fee. Polymarket's public help page, however, still tells users they risk $750.
A Polymarket trader posting as @Nik_Poly argued in an article on X that the new terms make submitting results less attractive.
"If users have to wait hours or days for basic sports markets to resolve, confidence in the platform drops," Nik wrote, adding that it also "reduces market activity, because stuck capital cannot be reused."