About 60% of World Cup bettors on Polymarket are first-time crypto users
About 60% of users placing their first World Cup bets on Polymarket had never used blockchain protocols before, based on a 90-day Bitget Wallet study of 857,000 active users. The data suggests prediction markets are bringing new people into crypto, often as an entry point before token trading or DeFi. Bitget Wallet said users are increasingly arriving with a real-world opinion or interest, rather than needing to first learn crypto basics. World Cup trading has fueled a major surge in activity: daily taker volume hit a record $713 million, and the World Cup winner contract alone has generated more than $3.1 billion in Polymarket volume. Sports have become the top category on both Polymarket and Kalshi, but the boom has also drawn regulatory scrutiny in the US over whether these platforms amount to unlicensed sports betting.
