Prediction markets are attracting new participants to the cryptocurrency space, as highlighted by research from Bitget Wallet. The study showed that 60% of active traders on Polymarket had never engaged with blockchain technologies prior to making event-related trades.
This investigation analyzed the blockchain activity of 857,000 active users on Polymarket over a 90-day timeframe. It revealed that a significant number of individuals entered the crypto landscape via prediction markets rather than by initially purchasing digital currencies or using decentralized finance (DeFi) services.
“Prediction markets are increasingly becoming a gateway into crypto instead of being viewed solely as a niche trading segment, with users engaging in on-chain activities through application interfaces rather than decentralized exchanges or DeFi protocols,” stated Bitget Wallet.
Sports Events Drive Prediction Market Engagement
Trading activities surged following the commencement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 11. As reported by Dune, the trading volume on prediction markets hit $713 million on the opening Saturday, marking the first recorded instance of such a high figure. This amount represents the contracts bought or sold based on existing orders.
The excitement surrounding World Cup markets has led to significant trading volumes on Polymarket. Data indicates that the contract for predicting the FIFA World Cup champion has amassed over $3.1 billion in trading volume.
Previous estimates from Bernstein suggested the tournament could yield over $3 billion for the sports betting market and contribute an additional $5 billion to $10 billion in user volume across prediction markets. Recent trading activities suggest that these forecasts are starting to come to fruition.
In the last month, sports-related contracts represented the dominant portion of activity on leading prediction market platforms. Kalshi reported more than $8.5 billion in sports trading volume, positioning it as the platform’s largest segment. Meanwhile, Polymarket generated over $4.9 billion in sports trading volume within the same timeframe, according to Defirate.
New Pathway Into Blockchain
The findings indicate that prediction markets are lowering entry barriers for individuals who may be unfamiliar with blockchain technology.
Bitget Wallet noted that participants surveyed averaged nearly 1,200 interactions with prediction markets during the 90 days, in stark contrast to around 12 trades observed on typical decentralized exchanges (DEX) in the same period.
The report coincided with other analyses revealing that Polymarket surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue. Operating on the Polygon network, the platform appears to attract much of its liquidity from Ethereum-based chains.
Bitget Wallet COO Elvin Kan remarked that prior attempts to onboard new users into crypto focused on enhancing wallet usability and interface design, yet such improvements still necessitated some understanding of blockchain technology.
“Prediction markets have transformed this methodology. Individuals are drawn not by cryptocurrencies themselves, but by a desire to predict outcomes of events they care about,” Kan stated.
Bitget Wallet also concluded: “This indicates that prediction markets are not merely another crypto trading avenue, but an application-driven onboarding tool, wherein users start with real-world inquiries and later engage with the underlying financial systems.”
“Thus, prediction markets are evolving into a primary scalable consumer onboarding layer for crypto, making blockchain infrastructure increasingly obscure while defining user engagement through tangible outcomes rather than financial components,” the firm added.
The rise of sports prediction markets has attracted regulatory scrutiny in the United States. Several state gambling regulators claim that prediction market operators are conducting sports betting activities without the necessary licenses.
Legal actions against prediction market operators have been initiated in at least 17 states.