Polymarket's Open Interest Hits Yearly High, Led by Sports, Politics, and Crypto Categories

BlockBeats News, December 17th, according to Dune Analytics data, the open interest of the prediction market Polymarket has been continuously rising throughout the year, recently hitting a new yearly high of around $326 million, a nearly 170% increase from the beginning of the year. In terms of market structure, the sports, politics, and crypto sectors hold the top three positions in market share, accounting for 46.6%, 21.12%, and 12.4%, respectively. Additionally, due to a significant market settlement of positions at the end of each month, approximately one-third of open interest contracts are closed out at the end of each month.

During last year's November U.S. election period, Polymarket set a historical record of $510 million total open interest with $385 million in open interest specifically in the political category. In Bitwise's recently released Top Ten Crypto Market Predictions for 2026, it is mentioned that next year, Polymarket's open interest will reach a new all-time high, surpassing the levels seen during the 2024 U.S. election.