Overview

Polymarket has steadily tightened the latency environment on crypto markets. The original 500 ms taker delay was removed in February 2026. A residual 250 ms delay remained for a while, and on August 17, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC that delay was cut to 50 ms.

This change further reduces the protective buffer market makers previously enjoyed when cancelling stale quotes. Combined with dynamic taker fees, maker rebates, and the move to Chainlink TWAP resolution on short-duration crypto markets, the meta continues to favor fast, fee-aware makers over pure taker latency-arbitrage bots.

The new reality: if you cannot cancel/replace in well under 100 ms end-to-end (ideally closer to 50–70 ms), your resting orders will be adversely selected more often.

What Changed (Recent Timeline)

500 ms taker delay removed (Feb 18, 2026)

Instant matching for takers; makers lost the half-second window to pull quotes.
250 ms residual taker delay + lock-in behavior (June 2026)

Once a taker order entered the delay window it became non-cancellable until the delay expired.
Taker delay reduced to 50 ms (August 17, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC)

Official announcement from @PolymarketDevs. Crypto markets now execute taker fills after only a 50 ms delay. Liquidity and market quality will be monitored and may be adjusted further.
Dynamic taker fees + maker rebates (ongoing since early 2026, refined in CLOB V2)

Current crypto formula (approx.):

   fee = C × 0.07 × p × (1 − p)

Peak ~$1.75 per 100 shares at 50 ¢. Makers pay zero fees and receive ~20 % of collected taker fees as daily USDC rebates (fee-curve weighted).

TWAP resolution on 5-min / 15-min / 4-hour crypto markets (August 2026)

Settlement uses Chainlink time-weighted average price (currently 60 s lookback on 5-min markets). Last-second single-tick sniping is largely dead; bots must model the averaging window.
CLOB V2 (April 2026)

feeRateBps removed from the signed order payload — fees are applied at match time. Order structure simplified.

The New Meta: Still Be a Maker (but even faster)

Zero fees + daily rebates remain the cleanest edge.
50 ms taker delay means the adverse-selection window is now tiny. Your cancel/replace loop must be extremely tight.
Colocation (Amsterdam region is known to be closest to the CLOB) + WebSocket + low-level language (Rust preferred) is close to mandatory for competitive market-making.
Taker strategies only work if you have a genuine information edge larger than the fee curve + the residual 50 ms risk.

How to Build a Compliant Bot (August 2026 Architecture)

Core Requirements

Real-time WebSocket order-book and user-channel streams (REST is too slow).
End-to-end cancel → replace cycle target: < 70–80 ms (ideally under the new 50 ms delay).
Fee-aware position sizing and edge calculation (use the current 0.07 rate curve).
TWAP-aware signal generation for short crypto markets.
Proper approvals, private-key management, and rate-limit awareness (volume-based tiers now live).

Step-by-Step Setup

Private key & approvals

Same as before: export your EOA private key and approve the exchange contracts for USDC / conditional tokens (one-time).
Client choice
- Official: py-clob-client or TypeScript / Rust SDKs (now stable).
- Performance: polyfill-rs, official Rust SDK, or a full HFT framework. Prefer the lowest-latency stack you can reliably maintain.
Connect via WebSocket

Subscribe to market channels for order-book depth and the user channel for fills/cancels. Do not poll REST for critical path logic.
Order construction (post-CLOB V2)

Fees are no longer part of the signed payload. Sign and post clean limit orders. Query any remaining market-specific parameters if needed, but the old feeRateBps field is gone.
Maker quoting on both sides

Post resting limit orders on YES and NO (or the relevant outcomes). Aim to earn rebates while keeping inventory under control.
Ultra-fast cancel/replace loop
- Monitor external price feed (Binance / Chainlink TWAP streams) + Polymarket book.
- On any meaningful move: cancel → immediately replace.
- With only 50 ms of taker delay left, any cycle longer than ~80–100 ms will get picked off regularly.
- Colocate in Amsterdam if possible; residential or distant VPS is no longer viable for serious market-making.

Example Strategy Adjustments for 5-Minute BTC Markets (post-TWAP)

Markets resolve on a 60-second Chainlink TWAP.
Deterministic direction is still often visible well before close, but you now model the average over the lookback window rather than a single last tick.
Near the end of the window (T-10 to T-5 s):
- Compute expected TWAP direction from live feeds.
- Post aggressive maker orders on the winning side (e.g., 90–95 ¢) only if your modeled edge exceeds fees + residual latency risk.
Continue earning maker rebates on any resting volume throughout the market.

Common Mistakes That Still Kill Bots

Relying on REST polling.
Cancel/replace loops slower than ~80 ms.
Ignoring the current fee curve when calculating edge.
Running from high-latency locations.
Treating the market as single-tick settlement (it is now TWAP).
Not merging YES/NO positions or managing inventory.
Attempting pure taker arb without a large enough edge after fees.

Using AI Correctly

Do not ask an LLM “build me a Polymarket bot.” It will regurgitate outdated 2025/early-2026 code.

Instead give it the current constraints:

“Write a maker bot for Polymarket 5-minute BTC markets using the official Rust/Python CLOB client. Use WebSocket order-book + Binance/Chainlink TWAP feeds. Target full cancel/replace under 70 ms. Fees are applied at match time (0.07 × p × (1-p) curve). Post maker quotes on both sides, skew inventory, and respect the 50 ms taker delay environment.”

Always back-test against the live fee curve and the current TWAP window.

Key Takeaway

The bots that win in late 2026 are still the best liquidity providers — just faster ones.

The reduction from 250 ms → 50 ms taker delay removes almost the last meaningful protective buffer. Speed, fee awareness, TWAP modeling, and disciplined risk controls are now non-negotiable.

Build maker bots. Stay under 70 ms. Earn the rebates. Monitor the official @PolymarketDevs channel for further adjustments.

Support team links