Home › Learn › Up or Down markets

How Polymarket Up or Down Markets Work (15-Minute, Hourly and Daily)

Explainer · live examples updated September 24, 2026, twice a day

Up or Down markets ask one question: will a price — usually Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana or XRP — finish a set window higher or lower than it started? Windows range from a few minutes to a full day, and a new market opens for every window.

There are two shares, Up and Down. The correct one pays $1; the other expires worthless. The price of Up is the market's estimate of the chance the price rises over the window.

Live examples

Bitcoin Up or Down on September 24?

Up 43.5% · 2 live outcomes · $45.9K traded in 24h

Rules excerpt from Polymarket: “This market will resolve to "Up" if the "Close" price for the Binance 1 minute candle for BTC/USDT Sep 23 '26 12:00 in the ET timezone (noon) is lower than the final "Close" price for the Sep 24 '26 12:00 ET candle. This market will resolve to "Down" if the "Close" price for the Binance 1 minute candle for BTC/USDT Sep 23 '26 12:00 in the ET timezone (noon) is higher than the final "Close" price for the Sep 24 '26 …”

Ethereum Up or Down on September 24?

Up 63.5% · 2 live outcomes · $9.4K traded in 24h

Rules excerpt from Polymarket: “This market will resolve to "Up" if the "Close" price for the Binance 1 minute candle for ETH/USDT Sep 23 '26 12:00 in the ET timezone (noon) is lower than the final "Close" price for the Sep 24 '26 12:00 ET candle. This market will resolve to "Down" if the "Close" price for the Binance 1 minute candle for ETH/USDT Sep 23 '26 12:00 in the ET timezone (noon) is higher than the final "Close" price for the Sep 24 '26 …”

Bitcoin Up or Down - September 23, 10:00PM-10:15PM ET

Up 0.5% · 2 live outcomes · $9.2K traded in 24h

Rules excerpt from Polymarket: “This market will resolve to "Up" if the time-weighted average price (TWAP) of Bitcoin, generated by Chainlink, of the time range specified in the title is greater than or equal to the price at the beginning of that range. Otherwise, it will resolve to "Down". The resolution source for this market is information from Chainlink, specifically the BTC/USD TWAP data stream available at …”

What to check before trading

⚠️ The rules name the exact data source and candle (for example a specific exchange's one-minute or one-hour candle) — not the price you see on another site.
⚠️ Some versions compare the close with the open of one candle, others compare today's close with yesterday's; read which.
⚠️ Ties matter: some rules count an unchanged price as Up. Check the wording before trading tiny moves.
⚠️ Short windows move fast and the order book can be thin: the spread can cost more than the edge.

The rules text on each market is what decides the outcome. Our market pages summarise it under “How this market resolves”, and how Polymarket resolves markets explains proposals, disputes and payout times.

Live odds: Bitcoin odds · Ethereum odds · Crypto Prices odds

Frequently asked questions

How do Polymarket Up or Down markets resolve?

By comparing two prices from the data source named in the rules — typically the close of a set candle with its open, or with the previous day's close. Up pays $1 if the price finished higher (the rules say how a tie is treated).

How long do Up or Down markets last?

From a few minutes to a day; each window is its own market, and new ones open continuously.

More market types

Crypto price markets · Tweet count markets · Temperature markets · Fed decision markets · Multi-outcome markets · “By date” markets

Polymarket View is independent and not affiliated with Polymarket. Educational information, not financial advice.