The contracts, listed as “BTC Up or Down: 15 min”, settle according to whether a specified Bitcoin reference price at the end of each 15-minute interval is greater than or equal to its level at the start. An equal or higher reading produces an “Up” outcome; a lower reading produces “Down”.
Polymarket US market rules show that settlement is based on CF Benchmarks’ Bitcoin Real-Time Index, or BRTI, rather than the spot price displayed by any single cryptocurrency exchange. For both the opening and closing reference points, 60 BRTI observations are collected during the final minute before the specified time and averaged, with the result rounded to two decimal places.
Live listings on Monday confirmed that the short-duration contracts were operating on Polymarket US. One contract covering 9.45am to 10am Eastern Time carried a price to beat of $83,711.14, while earlier contracts had already settled after their respective 15-minute windows.
The launch extends a fast-settling crypto format already associated with Polymarket’s international platform to the company’s regulated US operation. The US product is separate from Polymarket. com, which serves eligible users outside the United States, and the two services do not share accounts.
Polymarket says US residents must use the Polymarket US application rather than its international website. Its support documentation lists the US service as available through an iPhone app, with an Android version planned. The distinction is important because the company’s domestic operation sits within a different regulatory structure from its offshore-facing prediction-market business.
QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, is listed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a designated contract market. The CFTC records its designation date as July 9, 2025. A March 2026 regulatory filing covering amendments to the Polymarket US rulebook was subsequently certified by the commission in April.
The 15-minute Bitcoin contracts turn very small price movements into binary outcomes. Traders choose between Up and Down contracts, with settlement determined by the reference-price calculation set out in the rules. That structure means a move of only a few dollars can decide an outcome when Bitcoin is trading above $80,000, making the precise benchmark and observation period central to settlement.
The mechanism also separates the contract result from price displays that users may see on cryptocurrency exchanges or market-data services. Polymarket’s rules explicitly state that the outcome concerns the BRTI reading and not prices from other sources or spot markets. CF Benchmarks describes BRTI as a real-time benchmark for the US-dollar price of Bitcoin.
The US format differs in its stated resolution source from comparable 15-minute markets displayed on Polymarket’s international site. International listings reviewed on Monday specify a Chainlink BTC/USD time-weighted average price data stream for settlement, while the US contracts specify the CF Benchmarks BRTI methodology.
That distinction can matter during volatile trading because reference prices may vary slightly across venues and methodologies at a particular moment. By identifying the benchmark and averaging process in advance, the contract rules establish the value that determines settlement rather than relying on a trader’s preferred exchange quotation.
Short-duration markets also compress the trading and decision cycle. Each contract covers only a quarter of an hour, so positions can move sharply as Bitcoin approaches the closing reference point. Once the interval ends and the benchmark calculation establishes the direction, the binary contract settles according to the published terms.
The expansion comes as prediction-market operators broaden the range of event contracts available to US customers under federal derivatives oversight. The CFTC’s register includes Polymarket US alongside other designated contract markets, while individual exchanges remain responsible for listing contracts under applicable rules and regulatory requirements.
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