Polymarket's Open Contract Volume Reaches Annual Peak

According to BlockBeats, data from Dune indicates that the open contract volume on prediction market Polymarket has steadily increased throughout the year, recently reaching an annual high of approximately $326 million. This marks a 170% rise from the beginning of the year, when the volume was around $120 million. The market is primarily divided into three sectors: sports, politics, and crypto, which account for 46.6%, 21.12%, and 12.4% of the market share, respectively. Additionally, due to the settlement of numerous market positions at the end of each month, about one-third of the open contracts are closed. Polymarket previously set a record during the U.S. elections last November, with $385 million in open contracts in the political sector, contributing to a total contract volume of $410 million. A recent report by Bitwise on the top ten crypto market predictions for 2026 suggests that Polymarket's open contract volume is expected to reach a new historical high next year, surpassing the levels seen during the 2024 U.S. elections.