The cryptocurrency industry has always had its fair share of speculators, for better or worse. It’s no wonder then that two of the most popular platforms in crypto (Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun and decentralized prediction market Polymarket) are built on speculation.
But oddly enough, these platforms can be seen as the inverse of each other. On Pump.fun, users speculate about memecoins that have no intrinsic value proposition other than branding and community value, meaning it’s hard to predict which coins will break through the noise and attract fans. On Polymarket, users are encouraged to use all the information at their disposal when trading positions in the market, predicting everything from political elections to how many times Elon Musk will tweet this week.
However, both platforms have seen tremendous growth. Launched in January 2024, Pump.fun recently surpassed $100 million in total cumulative revenue for its developers, according to the Dune Analytics dashboard. Pump.fun developers earn a 1% fee for every transaction on the platform. Pump.fun recently eliminated token distribution fees, making it easier than ever for users to spin up new Mimecoins.
However, Pump.fun’s daily revenue on Friday was its second-lowest since May 24. According to data from The Block, whether the launchpad can continue to incentivize users to create and trade Mimecoins will be crucial to its future growth, lest the project resemble the once-popular Web3 social platform friend.tech, which essentially failed to generate revenue for the past three months.
Polymarket Surpasses NFT Trading Volume
Not to be outdone, Polymarket has also had a notable month. According to data from The Block and CryptoSlam, it has seen more trading volume than all NFTs on all chains combined. NFTs have seen a trading volume of around $377 million over the past 30 days, while Polymarket has seen $463 million worth of transactions on its platform.
According to data from The Block, Polymarket’s active trader population has been steadily increasing since May as the 2024 presidential election approaches. The platform counts election forecaster Nate Silver as an advisor, but the site is not officially available to US users.
Prediction markets currently have former President Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election, slightly ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris. About $7.5 billion has been wagered on the outcome.
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