Solana-based Drift Protocol launches prediction market
Quick Take
- Solana’s largest perpetuals trading protocol Drift has launched a prediction market called BET.
- BET, short for “Bullish on Everything,” will tap into Drift’s tech stack to offer features including cross-collateral trading and yield payouts, Drift’s co-founder said.
The Solana-based perpetual trading protocol Drift has launched a prediction market called BET.
The new betting market lets traders earn yield on their positions and supports over 30 crypto assets as collateral, Drift Labs co-founder Cindy Leow said on the social media platform X on Monday.
"When you’re trading perps, you’re synthetically betting on the price of an underlying going up. In prediction markets, the same concept applies. Fundamentally, both are ways of creating financial ties to an outcome," Leow wrote. Perpetual swaps, a type of futures contract that do not expire, enable investors to speculate on an asset's price without needing to own it.
Some economists say that prediction markets harness the "the wisdom of crowd" by providing a place for anyone to wager on the outcome of future events. These platforms have become increasingly popular in the crypto industry, especially during the U.S. election season.
Drift Labs is the core contributor behind Drift Protocol. BET will only be accessible in countries where the Drift protocol is live.
"Taking real events into permissionless financialization opens up the door to bet on everything from making a hyperlocalized bet with a few friends to trying to predict the outcome of a US presidential election," Leow said.
There are currently two live contracts related to the U.S. presidential election in the alpha release of BET with a combined pool of over $300,000 at stake. Drift intends to expand into categories including sports, crypto and economics, according to the website. The team is incentivizing adoption by paying FUEL tokens to traders who place bets and stake DRIFT tokens.
BET, short for "Bullish on Everything," is built on Drift's decentralized exchange and will tap into its $500 million liquidity pool. The integrated platforms will offer features including cross-collateral trading and structured bets.
Drift is one of the largest perpetuals trading protocols on Solana with nearly $374.1 million in total value locked, according to the crypto data tracker DeFiLlama.
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