diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2aee60b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Polymarket API Credentials
+# Copy this file to .env and fill in your actual credentials
+
+POLYMARKET_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
+POLYMARKET_SECRET=your-secret-here
+POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE=your-passphrase-here
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6dbfb97..1c0272b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,6 @@ tarpaulin-report.html
 *.profraw
 /target/tarpaulin/
 
+# Environment variables (contains secrets)
+.env
+
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 817558c..bae1d9e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1189,6 +1189,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.104",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dotenv"
+version = "0.15.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "77c90badedccf4105eca100756a0b1289e191f6fcbdadd3cee1d2f614f97da8f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dunce"
 version = "1.0.5"
@@ -2414,6 +2420,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytes",
  "chrono",
  "criterion",
+ "dotenv",
  "env_logger",
  "futures",
  "futures-util",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index badefc7..814c39d 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["json", "stream", "gzip"] }
 # Serialization
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0"
+dotenv = "0.15"
 
 # Ethereum and crypto
 alloy-primitives = "0.8"
diff --git a/examples/authenticated_benchmark.rs b/examples/authenticated_benchmark.rs
index 5265e76..05e3e07 100644
--- a/examples/authenticated_benchmark.rs
+++ b/examples/authenticated_benchmark.rs
@@ -5,18 +5,21 @@ use std::time::Instant;
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    // Load environment variables from .env file
+    dotenv::dotenv().ok();
+    
     println!("🔐 Authenticated Network Benchmark - Real Order Creation");
     println!("=======================================================");
-    println!("To run with real credentials, set environment variables:");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_API_KEY=your-api-key");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_SECRET=your-secret");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE=your-passphrase");
-    println!("");
     
-    // API credentials from environment variables
-    let _api_key = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_API_KEY").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-api-key".to_string());
-    let _secret = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_SECRET").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-secret".to_string());
-    let _passphrase = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-passphrase".to_string());
+    // API credentials from .env file
+    let _api_key = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_API_KEY")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_API_KEY not found in .env file")?;
+    let _secret = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_SECRET")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_SECRET not found in .env file")?;
+    let _passphrase = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE not found in .env file")?;
+    
+    println!("✅ Loaded API credentials from .env file");
     
     let client = ClobClient::new_internet("https://clob.polymarket.com");
     
diff --git a/examples/env_example.rs b/examples/env_example.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00cd4f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/env_example.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+use polyfill_rs::ClobClient;
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    // Load environment variables from .env file
+    dotenv::dotenv().ok();
+    
+    println!("🔧 Environment Configuration Example");
+    println!("===================================");
+    
+    // Check if credentials are available
+    match (
+        std::env::var("POLYMARKET_API_KEY"),
+        std::env::var("POLYMARKET_SECRET"),
+        std::env::var("POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE"),
+    ) {
+        (Ok(api_key), Ok(secret), Ok(passphrase)) => {
+            println!("✅ All credentials loaded from .env file:");
+            println!("   API Key: {}...{}", &api_key[..8], &api_key[api_key.len()-8..]);
+            println!("   Secret: {}...{}", &secret[..8], &secret[secret.len()-8..]);
+            println!("   Passphrase: {}...{}", &passphrase[..8], &passphrase[passphrase.len()-8..]);
+            
+            // Create client (would normally use these credentials)
+            let client = ClobClient::new_internet("https://clob.polymarket.com");
+            
+            // Test basic connectivity
+            println!("\n🌐 Testing connectivity...");
+            match client.get_server_time().await {
+                Ok(timestamp) => {
+                    println!("✅ Server time: {}", timestamp);
+                    println!("🚀 Ready for authenticated operations!");
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    println!("❌ Connection error: {}", e);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        _ => {
+            println!("❌ Missing credentials in .env file");
+            println!("📝 Create a .env file with:");
+            println!("   POLYMARKET_API_KEY=your-api-key");
+            println!("   POLYMARKET_SECRET=your-secret");
+            println!("   POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE=your-passphrase");
+        }
+    }
+    
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/examples/real_network_benchmark.rs b/examples/real_network_benchmark.rs
index c32e809..96e95e8 100644
--- a/examples/real_network_benchmark.rs
+++ b/examples/real_network_benchmark.rs
@@ -5,21 +5,24 @@ use std::time::Instant;
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    // Load environment variables from .env file
+    dotenv::dotenv().ok();
+    
     println!("🚀 Real Network Benchmark - polyfill-rs vs polymarket-rs-client");
     println!("================================================================");
-    println!("To run with real credentials, set environment variables:");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_API_KEY=your-api-key");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_SECRET=your-secret");
-    println!("  export POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE=your-passphrase");
-    println!("");
     
     // Set up client with credentials
     let client = ClobClient::new("https://clob.polymarket.com");
     
-    // API credentials from environment variables
-    let _api_key = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_API_KEY").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-api-key".to_string());
-    let _secret = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_SECRET").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-secret".to_string());
-    let _passphrase = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE").unwrap_or_else(|_| "your-passphrase".to_string());
+    // API credentials from .env file
+    let _api_key = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_API_KEY")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_API_KEY not found in .env file")?;
+    let _secret = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_SECRET")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_SECRET not found in .env file")?;
+    let _passphrase = std::env::var("POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE")
+        .map_err(|_| "POLYMARKET_PASSPHRASE not found in .env file")?;
+    
+    println!("✅ Loaded API credentials from .env file");
     
     println!("🔑 Using API credentials for authenticated requests");
     
diff --git a/scripts/network_benchmark.sh b/scripts/network_benchmark.sh
index 2f85c0c..59c8eab 100755
--- a/scripts/network_benchmark.sh
+++ b/scripts/network_benchmark.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ set -e
 
 echo "🌐 Network Latency Benchmark for polyfill-rs"
 echo "============================================="
+echo "📝 Note: API credentials loaded from .env file"
+echo ""
 
 # Colors for output
 RED='\033[0;31m'