Before you can trade, a regulated venue has to confirm who you are. That step is not a hurdle the platform invented. It is a legal requirement, and knowing what to expect makes it painless.
Know your customer, usually shortened to KYC, is the set of identity checks a financial platform runs before it lets you open and fund an account. In the United States these checks flow from the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act, which require firms to operate a Customer Identification Program that collects and verifies your name, date of birth, address, and an identification number. The core rule is codified at 31 CFR 1020.220, as of June 2026. Platforms also screen for fraud and money laundering and confirm you are eligible where you live. This is general information, not legal advice, and the exact steps differ by platform.
Before you trade, the platform confirms your identity using documents and data. The aim is to be sure the account belongs to a real, eligible person and not to a stolen identity or a front for someone else.
United States law requires regulated financial firms to run a Customer Identification Program. The platform is following the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act, not adding friction for its own sake.
You will typically provide your legal name, date of birth, address, and an identification number, then confirm a government document and sometimes a live photo to match your face to it.
Because legality differs by region, platforms often check your location to confirm you can trade where you are. Failing that check is usually about where you are, not who you are.
Know your customer is the process a regulated platform uses to confirm your identity, assess basic risk, and make sure you are allowed to use the service. It happens when you open an account and it can be revisited later, for example when you withdraw a large amount or when something about your activity changes. For most people it is a short step that happens once, near the start.
It exists because financial systems are attractive to fraud, money laundering, and abuse. Verifying customers is how firms keep stolen identities, sanctioned parties, and people below the legal age out of the system, and how they meet obligations placed on them by law. None of that is about distrusting you in particular. It is the cost of running a venue that holds money and connects to the wider financial system.
It helps to separate three things that often get bundled together in the word verification. The first is identity, which answers the question of whether you are who you say you are. The second is eligibility, which answers whether someone in your situation, your age, and your location is permitted to use the service. The third is risk screening, which checks your name against sanctions and watch lists and flags anything that needs a closer look. A platform can be satisfied on one of these and still pause on another, which is why two honest people can have very different sign up experiences.
In the United States the foundation is the Bank Secrecy Act, expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act after 2001. Together they require financial institutions to maintain a Customer Identification Program, a formal written procedure for verifying the identity of anyone opening an account. The program sits inside a wider anti money laundering framework that the same firms have to follow.
The core rule for banks is codified at 31 CFR 1020.220, with parallel rules for other kinds of financial firms. Under a Customer Identification Program a firm must collect, at a minimum, four pieces of information from each individual customer: your name, your date of birth, an address, and an identification number, per the CIP rule as of June 2026. It must then verify that information using risk based procedures, enough to form what the rule calls a reasonable belief that it knows your true identity. A firm does not have to prove every detail beyond doubt. It has to be reasonably sure.
The rule allows two routes to that belief. Documentary verification relies on a document, such as an unexpired passport or driver licence. Non documentary verification relies on data, such as comparing the details you gave against trusted records, or contacting you after the account opens. Many platforms use both, leaning on automated data checks first and asking for a document when the data alone is thin. Because the standard is set by federal law rather than by each platform, the basics look similar from one venue to the next.
The framework is not frozen. Regulators adjust the detail as they learn. In February 2026, for example, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an exceptive relief order that eased the requirement for institutions to re verify the beneficial owners of legal entity customers every single time such a customer opens a new account, per the FinCEN order dated 13 February 2026. That change is about business accounts and beneficial ownership, not about your personal sign up, but it is a useful reminder that the rules evolve. The general point holds and is unlikely to change soon: a regulated United States platform has to verify you. Verify the current position before relying on any specific detail here.
Illustrative flow of a typical Customer Identification Program check. The order and the names of steps vary by platform. Diagram by Prediction Market Index, June 2026.
Expect to provide your full legal name, your date of birth, your residential address, and an identification number such as a Social Security number where it applies. These are the four elements the Customer Identification Program rule requires, per 31 CFR 1020.220 as of June 2026. You will usually then upload or photograph a government issued document, for example a passport or driver licence, so the platform can match it against the details you entered.
Many platforms add a liveness check, where you take a short selfie or a brief video so the system can confirm a real person is present and that the face matches the document. The whole process is often automated and quick, though some cases are routed to a human for manual review, which takes longer. The table below sets out the common items and what each one is for, so nothing on the screen comes as a surprise.
| What you provide | Why it is collected | Typical proof |
|---|---|---|
| Full legal name | A required CIP element; the anchor every other check is matched to. | Government document; data records |
| Date of birth | A required CIP element; also confirms you meet the legal age. | Government document |
| Residential address | A required CIP element; supports eligibility and contact. | Document or recent records |
| Identification number | A required CIP element; for United States persons usually a Social Security number. | Entered, then verified against records |
| Photo identification | Documentary verification of the details above. | Passport, driver licence, or state ID |
| Selfie or short video | Liveness; confirms a real person matches the document. | Live capture in the app |
| Location signal | Eligibility, not identity; confirms you can trade where you are. | Device location or network checks |
Method: compiled from the CIP rule at 31 CFR 1020.220 and common platform onboarding practice. The exact items requested vary by venue. As of June 2026. General information, not legal advice.
When you submit your details, the platform compares them against trusted data sources and inspects any document you upload for signs of tampering. It screens your name against sanctions and watch lists, which is a legal obligation rather than an optional extra, and it builds a basic risk profile that can affect your limits or the depth of checking applied. Most of this happens in seconds, through automated services the platform buys in or builds.
This is why two people can have very different experiences. A clean, easily matched identity sails through. A recent address change, a thin credit file, a common name, or a document that is hard to read can each trigger an extra step. None of that implies wrongdoing. It usually means the automated match could not reach the threshold of confidence the rule asks for, so the platform asks for a little more. The figure below contrasts the two routes the rule allows, documentary and non documentary, since most checks are some blend of the two.
The platform relies on a document you supply, such as an unexpired passport, driver licence, or state identification card, and checks that it is genuine and matches your details.
The platform relies on data, comparing what you entered against trusted records, or confirming details after the account opens, rather than on a single uploaded document.
Figure 2 · The two verification routes the CIP rule permits, per 31 CFR 1020.220. Most platforms combine them. As of June 2026.
Because the legality of these markets differs by region, platforms commonly check where you are when you sign up or place a trade. This is separate from confirming your identity. It answers a different question, which is whether someone in your location is permitted to use the service at all. A platform can be completely satisfied that you are who you say you are and still decline you because of where you are sitting.
If a platform blocks you on location, that is generally about the rules where you are rather than anything about you. The legal map changes, and a venue available in one place may not be in another, sometimes down to the level of an individual United States state. Trying to disguise your location to get around a block is a route to a frozen account and forfeited funds, and it does not change whether the activity is legal for you. Our legality hub explains how to check the current position for a given place, and you should confirm your own eligibility before assuming access.
Verification means handing over sensitive personal information, so it is fair to ask how a platform stores and protects it. Review the privacy policy, prefer venues that explain their data practices clearly, and use strong, unique credentials on any account that holds your identity and your funds. Where a platform offers an extra login step beyond a password, turning it on is one of the simplest ways to protect the account that now carries your verified identity.
A check can fail for ordinary reasons. The name on your document may not match what you typed, perhaps because of a middle name, a maiden name, or a typo. A photo may be too dark or cropped. An address may be out of date because you moved. The data sources may simply lack enough recent information to confirm you, which is common for younger people, new arrivals, and anyone who keeps a light financial footprint. Most failures are fixable by correcting a detail or supplying a clearer document, and a steady second attempt usually succeeds.
If a check stalls, the calm path is to read the platform message carefully, fix the specific thing it names, and resubmit. Take document photos in good light, flat, with all four corners showing and the text sharp. Make sure your entered name matches the document exactly. If problems persist, contact the platform support team rather than opening a second account, since duplicate accounts often make matters worse. This page is general information, not legal advice, and the specific steps and timelines vary by venue.
Not every venue verifies you the same way, because not every venue is the same kind of thing. A regulated United States exchange or a brokerage that offers event contracts runs a full Customer Identification Program, asks for the four required elements, and screens against watch lists, because federal law requires it. This is the most thorough route, and it is also the one that gives you the clearest recourse if something goes wrong, since the firm answers to a regulator. Our guide to how regulated exchanges differ from offshore venues goes deeper on why that matters.
Offshore venues vary widely. Some run real checks, some run light ones, and some that advertise no verification are taking on risk that lands back on you, since a venue that does not know its customers is also a venue that can struggle to pay them out or to resist pressure from authorities. The absence of a check is not a feature. It is usually a sign of weaker protection. A venue that verifies you is meeting an obligation; a venue that does not may simply have no one holding it to one.
Play money and reputation based platforms, where nothing of monetary value is at stake, sit at the other end. They may ask only for an email address, because there is no money to protect and no anti money laundering obligation attached to a free forecasting account. The rule of thumb is simple: the more real money a platform holds for you, the more verification you should expect, and the more you should worry if it asks for none. When you sign up, you can see this play out in practice on each platform profile, which records the venue type and what it asks for.
Clearing a verification check does not make trading safe. Prediction markets can lose you money, and a confident price can still be wrong. Stake only what you can afford to lose, never to chase a loss, and never on borrowed money. If it stops feeling like a free choice, step back. In the United States you can call or text the helpline on 1-800-GAMBLER or visit ncpgambling.org.
Know your customer, usually shortened to KYC, is the identity verification a regulated platform runs before you can open and fund an account. It confirms who you are, screens for fraud and money laundering, and checks that you are eligible to use the service where you live.
United States law requires it. The Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act make regulated financial firms operate a Customer Identification Program that verifies each customer. The platform is meeting a legal obligation, not adding friction for its own sake. The core CIP rule is codified at 31 CFR 1020.220, as of June 2026.
Usually your legal name, date of birth, address, and an identification number, plus a government issued document such as a passport or driver licence. Many platforms also ask for a short selfie or video so they can match your face to the document.
For a clean, easily matched identity the automated check is often a matter of minutes. Cases that need a human to review a document, or where the data is hard to match, can take hours or a few days. The timeline varies by platform, so check the platform's own help pages.
Often for ordinary reasons such as a name mismatch, a blurry photo, an out of date address, or thin data to confirm you. Most cases are fixable by correcting details or supplying a clearer document. Location blocks are about eligibility where you are, not your identity.
That depends on the platform. Verification means sharing sensitive information, so review the privacy policy, prefer venues that explain their data practices, and protect your account with strong, unique credentials. This page is general information, not legal advice.
The rules change fast. Get the changes that affect you, plain and current, not tips.
Independent. Every claim dated and sourced. No platform pays for its place.