The people have spoken and the people like the prediction market. The like Myriad to be precise, the prediction and trading protocol that’s been on a tear lately, setting new benchmarks for volume and active users. The platform has now processed more than $10M in USDC through soaring volume that’s come courtesy of more than 500,000 users.
Myriad’s prediction market model is an idea that has found product-market fit, aided by its user-friendly interface that gamifies the process of making predictions spanning everything from crypto prices to real-world events. This consumer-friendly approach has made Myriad resonate with retail users who are DeFi natives and comfortable with using prediction markets to both guide their decision-making and to maximize their earnings for being correct.
Myriad predicts further expansion
With more than 5.4 million predictions having been made to date on its protocol, Myriad is certainly living up to its name. It’s tapped into the ready desire among onchain users to speculate on the outcome of future events such as elections, sports, and economic indicators. Smart contracts are used to settle predictions and distribute payouts transparently. This transparency also shines in proving that markets have been settled fairly, and in showing the latest predictions for or against the likelihood of a particular event occurring, such as ETH’s prospects of surpassing $5,000 or dipping below $4,000.
As for where Myriad is heading next, CEO Loxley Fernandes has a clear idea, stating: “Financial markets have always been about speculation, but Myriad is turning speculation into a product…Myriad is building the rails for prediction markets to evolve beyond a niche crypto product and become an entirely new segment of DeFi.” Expect fresh integrations, then, and new products built on top of Myriad’s prediction market framework, taking advantage of DeFi’s composability.
Many of these developments are already underway including deeper integration into EigenLayer and EigenCloud, supporting the networks where Myriad is already deployed such as Abstract and Linea. In addition, Myriad also plans to introduce blended oracles and a framework for ERC-PRED, which will provide support for a new asset class designed specifically for prediction markets.
Prediction markets come of age
Prediction markets proved their worth during the last U.S. Presidential election, when they were able to predict the outcome with far greater accuracy than conventional polling experts and media sources. They are one of the few onchain verticals that has gained traction beyond the immediate DeFi arena, attracting users who would otherwise not participate in web3, but who recognize the benefits of prediction markets’ transparent and globally accessible nature.
Interactive Brokers founder Thomas Peterffy has ventured that prediction markets could become bigger than the stock market itself within the next 15 years, a bold claim but one that there is nevertheless early evidence to support. They act as a sentiment indicator for gauging the global mood of everything from sports events to geo-political conflicts. This has made them a vital tool, not just for speculators, but for analysts looking to chart the way citizens feel about political affairs and other international concerns. As a result, prediction markets such as Myriad cast a shadow that extends far beyond the confines of the onchain landscape.
