Polymarket proxy wallets: why a profile address is not the wallet you sign with

Two addresses per account

A Polymarket account has a signer — the key in MetaMask, or the key behind an email or Google login — and a smart-contract wallet that the signer controls. Positions and USDC sit in the smart wallet, and on chain every fill names the smart wallet as maker or taker. The address on a polymarket.com profile is that smart wallet, not the signer.

The three wallet types

Polymarket's documentation names three. A Proxy wallet is the legacy type created for email, Google and Magic sign-ups. A Safe is the legacy type created for browser wallets such as MetaMask or Rabby. A Deposit Wallet is the default for every account created on or after 4 May 2026. When an order is signed, the type is given as a signature type: 0 for a plain EOA, 1 for a Proxy, 2 for a Safe and 3 for a Deposit Wallet.

Why trackers split traders in two

A tracker that ranks addresses sees the smart wallet doing all the trading and the signer doing almost nothing — or, if funds move between them, two half-wallets that each tell part of the story. Some traders also run several accounts. Ranking addresses therefore ranks fragments of people.

How PMWallets puts them back together

PMWallets reads each trading wallet's contract code. Polymarket proxy wallets embed their owner's address in a fixed code template, which is checked against the contract's own owner() answer; a Safe with a single owner is resolved through getOwners(). Wallets resolved to the same owner are scored as one entity. A wallet that cannot be proven to belong to someone stays on its own — the clustering never guesses.

Which address a bot needs

A trading bot needs both: the signer's private key to sign orders, and the smart wallet's address — the one in the polymarket.com profile menu, often called the funder address — because that is where the balance is. Swap them, or pick the wrong signature type, and the bot's orders are rejected.

Why is my Polymarket address different from my MetaMask address?

Polymarket gives every account a smart-contract wallet controlled by your MetaMask key. Your positions and balance live in that smart wallet, and its address is the one shown on your profile.

Which address do I give a Polymarket copy-trading bot?

The private key of the signer (kept in an environment variable, never in a config file) and the smart wallet address from the polymarket.com profile menu as the funder address, with the signature type that matches the account — 3 for accounts created since 4 May 2026.

Can two Polymarket profiles belong to the same trader?

Yes. Some traders run several accounts. PMWallets merges wallets only when the chain proves a shared owner; otherwise they are scored separately.