> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.polymarket.us/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Your Role as a Partner

> How IBs and ISVs integrate with Polymarket US as message facilitators — what you do, what we do, and what you never have to handle.

As an Introducing Broker (IB) or Independent Software Vendor (ISV), you integrate with Polymarket US as a **message facilitator**: you authenticate as a **Firm**, act on behalf of the **Retail Participants** you onboard, and route their activity to and from the exchange. You build the experience; Polymarket US runs the regulated market and clearing.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **You never hold participant funds.** Participant accounts are funded by your **funding entity** through [Partner Funding](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/funding/overview.md) *(Beta)* — deposits and withdrawals that mirror each participant's wallet allocation. Your role is to onboard and verify participants, route their orders, and relay transfer instructions — never to custody funds.

## What you do vs. what Polymarket US does

| Responsibility | You (Partner) | Polymarket US |
| - | - | - |
| Onboard Retail Participants (collect details, present agreements) | ✅ | — |
| Collect KYC information and submit it | ✅ | — |
| Verify identity and decide (KYC) | — | ✅ Performs verification & decision |
| Provision trading identities and accounts | — | ✅ Automatic on KYC approval |
| Present markets, prices, and a trading UI | ✅ | — |
| Match orders and maintain the order book | — | ✅ (DCM) |
| Hold collateral, clear, and settle | — | ✅ (DCO) |
| Monitor orders, positions, balances | ✅ Consume [streams](https://docs.polymarket.us/streaming-endpoints/grpc-overview.md) | ✅ Emit streams |

## You are a facilitator, not a counterparty

Every message you send is **on behalf of a Retail Participant** you have onboarded. You are a permissions and routing layer:

```mermaid theme={null}
graph LR
    RP["Retail Participant"] -->|uses your app| P["Partner (IB / ISV)"]
    P -->|acts on their behalf| PM["Polymarket US"]
    PM -->|streams & responses| P
    P -->|surfaced in your app| RP
```

* You authenticate **once** as your Firm and act for any Retail Participant under it.
* Polymarket US matches, clears, and settles — you never take the other side of a trade.
* Funding of participant trading accounts flows between your funding entity and each participant's account — see [Partner Funding](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/funding/overview.md) *(Beta)*.

## ISV or IB?

The two partner types **integrate identically** — the same APIs and the same workflow. The difference is legal classification, not mechanics.

> [card] [ISV](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/partner-types/isvs.md)
>
> An Independent Software Vendor provides the software experience. ISVs are **not** brokers and carry no broker registration.

> [card] [IB](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/partner-types/ibs.md)
>
> An Introducing Broker integrates the same way **plus** carries CFTC registration and NFA membership obligations.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **IB-specific obligations.** If you are an Introducing Broker, you must maintain CFTC registration, NFA membership, and the supervisory/compliance requirements described on the [IBs](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/partner-types/ibs.md) page **in addition to** completing this integration. These are regulatory obligations, not technical ones.

## Next steps

> [card] [Platform Model](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/platform-model.md)
>
> How the DCM and DCO fit together, and the entities you act on.

> [card] [Integration Journey](https://docs.polymarket.us/partners/integration-journey.md)
>
> The end-to-end path from onboarding to live trading.


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