Solana-based derivative trading platform Drift launches prediction market BET, can holding bets also generate profits?

The decentralized derivatives trading platform Drift Protocol in the Solana ecosystem announced yesterday via a tweet that it will launch a prediction market called "BET," which stands for "Bullish on Everything." It will utilize Drift's technology to offer features such as multi-collateral trading and yield farming.

Drift Launches Prediction Market BET: "Bullish on Everything"

The sustainable contract trading protocol Drift has announced that the prediction market feature named "BET: Bullish on Everything" is now live on its official website.

As one of the largest DEXs on Solana, Drift has a total value locked (TVL) of up to $3.741 billion as shown on DeFiLlama.

The protocol stated in a tweet that BET has the following advantages compared to other prediction markets:

• Enjoy the speed and low cost of trading on Solana

• Support over 30 cryptocurrencies as collateral, enabling cross-collateral trading

• Users can stake DRIFT tokens and earn FUEL tokens, as well as receive profit sharing while holding bets

• Integrate over $500 million in liquidity from Drift to provide deeper liquidity and more accurate pricing for the prediction market

Currently, the BET website features two prediction contracts related to the U.S. presidential election, with a total accumulated bet amount exceeding $339,000. It is expected that more predictions will be added in the future, including interest rate cuts, crypto events, and other sports-related predictions.

Drift Labs: Prediction Market as an Extension of Trading

Co-founder of Drift Labs, Cindy Leow, mentioned in a tweet that the prediction market is not only an extension of trading but also the future of trading, a natural evolution:

When you trade perpetual contracts, you are essentially betting on the price increase of an underlying asset; the same concept applies in the prediction market, fundamentally, both create financial bets related to future outcomes.

She added, "Turning real-world events into financial bets, BET opens the door for those who love to predict events as small as local occurrences to as big as the results of the U.S. presidential election."

Evaluations of Prediction Markets Vary

With prediction markets, led by Polymarket, achieving significant success on the eve of the U.S. election, several Democratic figures have called on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to ban political and sports betting, claiming it is eroding democracy, a move opposed by multiple crypto companies including Coinbase and Gemini.

Coinbase, Gemini Oppose CFTC Proposal to Ban Prediction Markets: Overreach and Undefined Definitions

However, individuals such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Tesla founder Elon Musk have expressed appreciation for this application.

Vitalik Praises Prediction Markets and Community Notes as Two Major Cognitive Technologies, Musk Also Agrees