Solana-based Polymarket rival draws over $3 Million in liquidity
The fascination with blockchain-powered forecasting platforms took a significant leap forward this Monday, as Solana's Drift Protocol unveiled BET.
An acronym for Bullish on Everything, Drift's innovation is poised to rival Polymarket amidst a politically charged U.S. election cycle, driving substantial wagering activity on the platform. With its launch in its alpha phase, Drift introduced users to two political wagers, both drawing impressive participation and showcasing robust opening numbers for the platform.
Co-founder of Drift, Cindy Leow shared that within the initial 24-hour window post-launch of Drift’s BET prediction markets, they've hit an impressive mark exceeding $3.5 million in total orderbook liquidity.
A notable distinction sets Polymarket and Drift apart: Polymarket operates on Ethereum's scaling framework, Polygon, whereas BET along with Drift reside on Solana. Drift highlights that SOL’s superior transaction speeds and reduced operational costs are advantageous for BET.
A staggering $124,000 has been staked through Drift on the outcome of Donald Trump's potential victory in the forthcoming 2024 Presidential Election, attributing a 48% likelihood at the time of reporting. Likewise, Drift participants have placed $186,000 betting on Kamala Harris winning the popular vote, with the odds favoring the Democratic candidate at 71% probability.
Though Drift has accumulated $310,000 in open bets over two events within just a day, this figure barely scratches the surface compared to Polymarket, which has been operational for several months. For the 2024 election predictions, $74 million and $82 million have been wagered on Harris and Trump, respectively, with Trump slightly leading with a 50% chance to Harris' 49% at the current juncture.
In predictions about the popular vote outcome, both Drift and Polymarket give Harris the same 71% odds. However, the wager totaling $111 million on Polymarket, with approximately $9.3 million directly backing Harris, outpaces Drift significantly.
Drift, much like Polymarket, is inaccessible to users from the U.S. and other regulated regions. The open bets on Polymarket total about $80 million, making its outstanding wager value more than 250 times larger than what Drift's two current markets have attracted.
A stark contrast between the platforms is their betting currency: Polymarket uses USDC, the second-largest stablecoin in crypto, whereas Drift accepts stakes in 30 different digital currencies, as per a recent blog post. Moreover, Drift advertises the chance for users to “earn yield while in position” through loaning, coupled with the option for managing risks with what are referred to as structured bets.
With Drift stepping into the prediction market arena, the value of its governance token saw a noteworthy uptick. Climbing by 24% in the last day, DRIFT was trading at $0.42 on Tuesday.
While political betting is a cornerstone for Polymarket, it also indulges in user-created markets spanning pop culture, cryptocurrency, and sports. Drift's website hints at the forthcoming introduction of similar betting pools, including those centered around Formula 1, Solana, and various sports competitions.
