Polymarket is not adding identity verification to its core platform. The company wants to make that very clear.

Josh Stevens, Polymarket’s vice president of engineering, took to X to address concerns after reports suggested the prediction market platform was rolling out mandatory Know Your Customer checks. His message was blunt: KYC applies only to a small group of early beta testers for a new product, and it won’t stick around once testing wraps up.

What actually happened

The confusion stemmed from Polymarket’s launch of a new product called Polymarket Perps, which went live on April 21, 2026. The product lets users trade with up to 10x leverage on major assets including Bitcoin, Nvidia stock, and gold. Funding rates are capped at roughly 11% APR.

To access the beta version of Perps, a select group of users must complete identity verification. That’s where the KYC panic started.

“No KYC is being added to any part of existing polymarket.com with this launch,” Stevens wrote.

He went further, confirming that once Polymarket Perps exits its beta phase, KYC won’t be required to use the product either. In English: the identity checks are a temporary speed bump for early testers, not a permanent feature of anything Polymarket builds.

Stevens joined Polymarket as VP of engineering in early 2026, coming over from Aave Labs. Beyond the Perps launch, he’s reportedly overseeing infrastructure improvements focused on scalability, including exploration of a potential chain migration for the platform.

What this means for investors and traders

The Perps product itself is worth paying attention to regardless of the KYC dust-up. Polymarket moving into leveraged derivatives trading represents a meaningful expansion beyond its prediction market roots. Offering 10x leverage on assets like Bitcoin and gold puts it in direct competition with established perpetual futures platforms like dYdX, GMX, and Hyperliquid.

The limited KYC approach for the beta is actually a savvy move from a product strategy perspective. By restricting identity checks to a small early access group, Polymarket can satisfy whatever compliance requirements it deems necessary for testing a leveraged product without alienating the broader community that made the platform successful in the first place.

Stevens’ background at Aave Labs, one of DeFi’s most established lending protocols, gives some credibility to the infrastructure ambitions. The mention of potential chain migration is particularly interesting. Polymarket currently runs on Polygon, and any move to a different chain could have meaningful implications for transaction costs, speed, and the types of products the platform can support.

For existing Polymarket users, the takeaway is straightforward: nothing changes on the platform you’re currently using. For traders eyeing the Perps product, the KYC requirement is a short-term gate that should open once testing concludes.