Polymarket and Kalshi Volume Jumps From $500M to $6B as Crypto Slumps

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Weekly trading volume on prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi increased from about $500 million in June 2025 to nearly $6 billion in January 2026, according to Dune data cited by Cryptopolitan.

Cryptopolitan links the surge to weaker sentiment in crypto: bitcoin fell nearly 30% from its October peak, while the broader altcoin market faced heavy losses, pushing some traders toward event-based contracts tied to sports and politics.

Downloads and Retail Interest Spiked Alongside Volume

The same report highlights app momentum. Based on Sensor Tower data, Polymarket installs rose from ~30,000 to 400,000+ over a year, while Kalshi installs grew from ~80,000 to ~1.3 million.

Over that period, Binance app downloads dropped by more than half, which the article frames as another signal of attention shifting away from pure exchange activity and toward prediction-style trading.

Exchanges Are Moving Into Prediction Markets

As demand grows, Cryptopolitan notes that Coinbase launched prediction markets in December 2025, routing the experience through Kalshi, while Gemini and Crypto.com also added prediction markets for users.

The broader trend, as presented in the source, is that traders are looking for liquid, easy-to-understand ways to speculate when token markets feel choppy making prediction markets an attractive alternative during a downturn.

Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/crypto-crash-pushes-sports-politics-bets/