Dispute Resolution

On Polymarket, anyone can challenge a proposed Market Resolution by posting a $750 USDC counter-bond within the 2-hour challenge window. The first dispute resets the request; a second dispute escalates the case to UMA Data Verification Mechanism voting. During a 24-48 hour debate period, evidence and arguments can be submitted on the UMA governance forum. UMA token stakers then vote on the correct outcome over approximately 48 hours. The losing side forfeits their bond to the winning side. This creates a self-correcting system: traders who have a strong view that an outcome was incorrectly proposed are financially incentivized to dispute it, which protects the integrity of Settlement across all positions. The process can take 4-6 days for a fully escalated dispute.

Kalshi operates as a CFTC-Regulated Exchange and handles disputes through an internal Outcome Review Committee rather than a decentralized Oracle. When a Market Resolution is challenged or ambiguous, the committee evaluates the evidence against the Resolution Source data and the contract terms. There is no formal external appeal path for individual traders; however, Kalshi is required to maintain detailed records and operate under CFTC oversight, which provides indirect accountability. In cases where clear resolution is impossible, Kalshi may invoke Rule 6.3(c) to settle at the last traded price rather than a binary outcome. This centralized model is faster and more predictable than the UMA process but places final authority in the hands of a single company rather than distributed stakeholders.