FAQ

What is Proteus?

Proteus is a professional grade prediction market trading terminal that aggregates markets from Polymarket and Kalshi into a single, powerful interface designed for traders who want institutional-quality tools, real-time data, and advanced features without switching between platforms.

How is my data protected?

All sensitive data—including proxy wallet private keys and CLOB credentials—is encrypted using AES-256-GCM, the same encryption standard used by banks and government agencies. Your data is stored securely in our PostgreSQL database with strict access controls.

When you sign up, Proteus automatically creates a secure wallet system for you. You can deposit from any blockchain or card, trade instantly without gas fees, and withdraw whenever you want. Your funds are always yours—Proteus never takes custody.

How does depositing and trading work?

Proteus uses Privy for authentication. Sign in with your email, Google, or connect an existing wallet—whatever's easiest. Behind the scenes, Privy creates a secure embedded wallet for you. No seed phrases to write down or lose. Your Privy wallet is your identity on Proteus and the foundation of your account.

Your Wallet Architecture

Once you're in, Proteus sets up a Safe wallet linked to your account. Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) is the most battle-tested smart contract wallet in crypto—it secures over $100 billion in assets across the industry. Your Safe wallet enables gasless trading (no paying fees on every click) while adding smart contract-level security to every transaction.

For Polymarket trading specifically, Proteus also generates a proxy wallet with the credentials needed to interact with Polymarket's order book (CLOB). This happens automatically—you don't need to do anything. The proxy wallet's private keys are encrypted with AES-256-GCM (bank-grade encryption) and stored securely. This architecture lets you execute trades instantly while maintaining full security.

In short: Privy handles your login and identity → Safe wallet holds your funds and enables gasless trading → Proxy wallet executes your Polymarket trades. All three work together seamlessly.

How does depositing work?

Funding your account is simple thanks to Glide, our payments infrastructure:

Click Deposit in the header or your Profile
Choose your source—USDC from any chain, other tokens like ETH, or pay by card
Confirm the transaction
Done. Your balance updates and you're ready to trade.

Glide handles all bridging and conversion automatically. Have USDC on Arbitrum? ETH on mainnet? A credit card? Doesn't matter. Everything converts to USDC on Polygon (what Polymarket uses) behind the scenes. No manual bridging, no figuring out which network you're on, no friction.

How does trading work?

When you place a trade, your Safe wallet signs the transaction and your proxy wallet executes it on Polymarket's order book. Because of our relayer system, you don't pay gas on every trade—Proteus handles that. Trading feels instant and costs nothing beyond the trade itself.

My trade didn't execute—what happened?

Common reasons include:

Insufficient balance — Ensure you have enough USDC
Price moved — The market moved past your limit price
Approval needed — First-time traders may need to approve USDC spending
Network congestion — Polygon occasionally experiences delays

Check your transaction status in the Activity tab or contact support.

How do withdraws work?

Withdraw anytime to any destination:

Click Withdraw
Choose your destination chain and token
Enter the amount
Confirm

Glide routes your funds wherever you need them—back to Polygon, to Ethereum mainnet, to Arbitrum, or directly to an exchange. Cross-chain withdrawals typically complete in 1-5 minutes.

Does Proteus have access to my funds?

Proteus doesn't hold your money. Your funds live in your Safe wallet, which only you control. Here's what that actually means:

Non-custodial: Your funds live in your Safe wallet, which only you control. Proteus facilitates trades but never takes custody.
Smart contract security: Safe wallets are audited, battle-tested, and protect over $100B industry-wide.
Encrypted credentials: All sensitive data (proxy wallet keys, API credentials) is encrypted with AES-256-GCM at rest.
No seed phrase exposure: Privy's embedded wallet means you get security without the UX nightmare of managing seed phrases.
Atomic transactions: Glide transactions either complete fully or revert entirely—no stuck funds, no partial failures.