Polymarket Captures 97% of Onchain Prediction Market Fees After Pricing Overhaul

Polymarket has emerged as one of decentralized finance’s most profitable protocols after implementing a pricing overhaul on March 30, generating approximately $7.1 million in fees during the first week of the second quarter. If sustained, this pace implies an annualized run rate of roughly $365 million, putting Polymarket at the forefront of the onchain prediction market sector and giving it nearly 97% of all revenue in the space.

Daily fees on the platform have remained around $1 million, with trading activity sustaining the elevated levels, according to DeFiLlama data. These gains place Polymarket among the eighth-largest DeFi protocols by fees, alongside stablecoin issuers Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT), as well as decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid. The platform’s total value locked reached over $432 million recently, approaching its November 2024 peak of $510 million, reflecting its growing dominance in onchain prediction markets.

Polymarket has also started attracting mainstream institutional partners. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, expanded its commitment to the platform with a $600 million cash investment as part of a broader $2 billion initiative. ICE plans to distribute Polymarket’s event-driven data to institutional clients, highlighting growing confidence in the platform.

At the infrastructure level, Polymarket is replacing its bridged USDC.e collateral on Polygon with a 1:1 USDC-backed token called Polymarket USD, which will serve as the primary trading collateral in its April exchange upgrade. This move supports highly traded markets on macro topics including the US-Iran conflict, oil, inflation, and equities indices.