Polymarket Hits $1B Volume, Boosted by U.S. Election Bets
- Polymarket has reached $1 billion in trading volume.
- A significant portion ($343 million) of the volume was traded in July 2024.
- The increase is driven by bets on the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Polymarket Surpasses $1B in Trading Volume Amid U.S. Election Frenzy
Polymarket, a crypto betting platform, has hit $1 Billion in trading volume, and more than one-third of that volume was traded in July 2024 as per the DUNE data. The increase in the Volume is mainly attributed to betting on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Thus, according to the data, $343 million were traded in July 2024, while in June only $111 million, and in May – $63 million. This data shows the hype and craze of the U.S. presidential election among the bettors.
The total bet amount stands at $429 million with Donald Trump being the favourite at 60% while Kamala Harris has seen her odds increase to 38% after Biden dropped out. Apart from political events, Polymarket also has prediction markets for crypto, sports, business, and the 2024 Olympic games.
Polymarket, closed a $70 million Series B funding round on May 14, with participation from Founder Fund by Peter Thiel and Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin. On July 24, Polymarket integrated with MoonPay allowing users to pay with debit and credit cards thus including non-crypto users. Also, on July 16, election analyst Nate Silver came on board as an adviser to ride on the rising popularity of U. S. political betting. Nevertheless, Polymarket, which claims to cover only the US events, is still inaccessible to the American audience.
Polymarket Trader's Favorite is Trump
Since President Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris has doubled the odds of a Democrat winning the White House, moving from 18% to 38%. Harris' gains are mainly from small individual bets, while Trump's bettors show more conviction, with the top five holders of his contract holding 9.1 million shares. Overall, $423 million has been staked on the presidential race.
The largest holder of the "Yes" bet for Trump, known as 'Larpas,' also holds the biggest "No" bet for Harris and stands to win $3.38 million if Trump wins. The betting market is expected to intensify as the election approaches, with the crypto community viewing a vote for Harris as a vote against digital assets. Additionally, Polymarket plans to introduce leverage trading, potentially leading to larger positions and higher rewards.
Conclusion
Polymarket has reached a significant achievement of $1 billion in trading volume due mainly to the speculation of the U. S. presidential election. Since Donald Trump is leading the odds and Kamala Harris is getting popular, the platform has been active. However, Polymarket is still unavailable to American users even though it centers on U. S. occurrences.
