Polymarket has emerged as one of decentralized finance’s leading fee-generating protocols following a pricing overhaul implemented on March 30. The onchain prediction platform collected approximately $7.1 million in fees during the first week of the second quarter, according to data from DeFiLlama. If that pace holds, the annualized run rate would reach roughly $365 million, placing Polymarket eighth among all DeFi protocols by fees.
The March 30 pricing adjustment pushed daily fees to around $1 million, a level that has largely been maintained as trading activity stays elevated. Polymarket now accounts for 96.8% of all onchain prediction market fees, giving it a dominant position within that segment. The platform ranks alongside stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether, as well as decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, in the top tier of DeFi fee generators.
Beyond fee revenue, Polymarket’s broader onchain footprint has also expanded. Total value locked on the platform exceeded $432 million as of Tuesday, approaching its previous high of around $510 million recorded during the November 2024 US election period. The figures suggest sustained user engagement rather than a short-term spike driven solely by the pricing change.
The platform’s growing scale has begun attracting institutional interest. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, completed a $600 million cash investment in Polymarket on March 27, part of a broader $2 billion commitment. Under the arrangement, ICE will distribute Polymarket’s event-driven data to institutional clients, signaling a push to embed prediction market signals into mainstream financial infrastructure.
At the technical level, Polymarket announced on Monday that it is replacing its bridged USDC.e collateral on Polygon with a new token called Polymarket USD, backed 1:1 by USDC. The new token will serve as trading collateral as part of an April exchange upgrade. The platform continues to launch actively traded markets covering topics such as the US-Iran conflict, oil prices, inflation, and equity indices.
Regulatory risk remains a notable concern despite the platform’s revenue growth. Prediction markets face resistance from certain US states and gambling regulators in other jurisdictions. Hungary and Portugal have recently moved to order local blocking of such platforms, while Argentina has issued a countrywide block on Polymarket specifically, citing the platform’s operation as an unlicensed gambling site. How regulators in other major markets respond could have significant implications for the platform’s continued expansion.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
