The analysis of Animoca Brands on Polymarket during the USA elections

According to the recent report by Animoca Brands, Polymarket, the prediction platform on blockchain, has reached unprecedented popularity during the USA 2024 elections. 

Specifically, surpassing one billion dollars in traded volume and attracting an increasingly large audience. Let’s see all the details in this article. 

Animoca Brands’ analysis on how Polymarket attracted new users and record volumes during the US elections

Polymarket, launched in 2020 by the young entrepreneur Shayne Coplan, has quickly emerged as one of the most innovative and popular prediction platforms based on blockchain.

Thanks to its strategic entry into the sector during the United States presidential elections of 2020, the platform experienced rapid success, attracting the attention of users and investors. 

However, it was in the 2024 electoral cycle that Polymarket consolidated its position. 

Specifically, recording an unprecedented trading volume and capturing a diverse audience, both within the world of cryptocurrencies and among more traditional users.

In January 2024, Polymarket launched its prediction market for the 2024 United States presidential election, titled “US Election Winner 2024”. From that moment, user interest began to grow at extraordinary rates. 

As the year progressed, high-profile political events, such as the unexpected withdrawal of the outgoing president Joe Biden and an attempted attack against the former president Donald Trump, further drew attention to the electoral outcomes. 

Contributing consequently to an increase in activity on Polymarket. In the month of October 2024, with the elections approaching, the platform recorded an explosive growth in trading volume. 

In particular, it has surpassed the overall billion dollars, bringing the open interest to an exceptional value of about 400 million dollars.

This figure not only surpassed the TVL (Total Value Locked) on some of the main blockchain networks, but it also positioned Polymarket among the top 20 blockchain ecosystems for locked capital. 

The platform has managed to capture the interest of both financial communities and the general public, proving to be much more than just a niche for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Growing Popularity and Media Coverage

As previously mentioned, the notoriety of Polymarket has not been limited to the boundaries of the cryptocurrency sector.

The platform has received significant media coverage, with major news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNN highlighting its electoral forecasts. 

This type of exposure has strengthened public interest and has given further visibility to the platform. 

In August 2024, Bloomberg integrated the electoral forecast data from Polymarket into its terminal. 

Marking in this way an important milestone towards its mainstream integration and confirming the platform as a reliable point of reference for market forecasts.

This growing media attention has coincided with an increase in the popularity of Polymarket in Google searches and web traffic. 

The interest from the media and public figures has helped the platform to attract users who might not normally be drawn to the blockchain sector, significantly expanding its user base.

Although the 2024 electoral cycle has been the main driver of trading volume, accounting for about 75% of the activity on the platform in recent months, Polymarket has maintained a varied offering for its users. 

The prediction markets not related to elections have nonetheless generated about 25% of the total volume. Thus demonstrating a wide interest in other sectors, including sports and entertainment.

In particular, markets like the predictions on the Super Bowl and the Champions League have attracted significant activity, highlighting how the user base of Polymarket is interested in different areas beyond politics. 

This balance between electoral and non-electoral markets represents a strength of the platform. It stands out for its ability to adapt to various user interests and thus attract a heterogeneous range of participants.

A surge of new users

The year 2024 represented a year of unprecedented growth for the user base of Polymarket. With over 300,000 new registrations in the month of October alone, the platform reached a total of 327,000 active users by November 3. 

It is emphasized that the majority of these were acquired in the last year. This massive influx demonstrates the platform’s appeal not only for electoral forecasts but also for other market categories.

Approximately 80,000 users are exclusively involved in the markets related to the USA elections, while the remaining 247,000 users have also explored other categories. 

This variety suggests that many users see Polymarket as a multifaceted prediction platform, capable of offering interesting opportunities beyond political events.

The success of Polymarket in 2024 has demonstrated that blockchain-based prediction platforms can attract a wide and varied audience, going beyond the community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. 

With its open market model, which allows users to make predictions on a wide range of events, Polymarket has found a balance between the decentralized financial sector and popular entertainment.

Looking to the future, Polymarket could continue to expand its offerings by incorporating new market categories that could attract an even broader user base. 

Furthermore, the integration with traditional information platforms, such as Bloomberg, represents an important step forward towards the mainstream adoption of Web3 technologies. 

With a constantly growing user base and an increasing trading volume, Polymarket seems well positioned to become a point of reference not only for electoral predictions, but for a wide range of predictive markets.