What is Polymarket?
Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market platform that allows users to bet on the outcomes of various real-world events, ranging from politics and sports to pop culture and international relations. Founded in 2020 by Shane Coplan, Polymarket leverages blockchain technology, specifically the Ethereum and Polygon networks, to provide a secure and transparent environment for making predictions and trading shares based on those predictions.
Users can access Polymarket via a web browser and connect using an Ethereum-compatible wallet, typically funded with USDC stablecoins. Once connected, users can browse various markets, each representing a specific event or outcome. The prices of shares in these markets reflect the current aggregated probability of the events happening, allowing users to buy shares if they believe the actual outcome will be different from the current market odds.
One of Polymarket's significant advantages is its use of UMA's oracle for market resolution, ensuring that outcomes are accurately determined based on verified data. This decentralized infrastructure enhances the platform's reliability and trustworthiness. Polymarket's real-time updates and market dynamics make it a preferred choice for gaining insights into public sentiment and predicting future events.
Polymarket has gained substantial traction, particularly during high-profile events like the U.S. Presidential elections, where it has been used to gauge public opinion and predict outcomes with greater accuracy than traditional polls.