Solana Launches 'World' Prediction Market as Crypto's Hottest Sector Heats Up

Prediction markets are quickly becoming  crypto's most competitive sector. On July 1, Solana launched World, a new onchain prediction market integrated directly into the Phantom Wallet. The platform aims to challenge established leaders Polymarket and Kalshi while offering a different user experience centered around Solana's high-speed infrastructure. 

Solana is currently trading at $80.83, up 17.96% in the past 7 days. 

Unlike traditional exchanges, World is built as a non-custodial protocol. Users maintain custody of their assets, with trades routed through Solana liquidity providers rather than an exchange holding customer funds. Markets settle automatically through Chainlink oracles, allowing what the company describes as immediate resolutions and instant payouts using the CASH stablecoin. 

Launching inside Phantom also gives World instant distribution to millions of existing Solana wallet users without requiring a separate application or wallet connection. 

"Prediction markets are one of the most powerful applications you can build on a high-performance blockchain," Solana Foundation Head of Consumer Pedro Miranda said in comments shared by World. 

World Arrives as Prediction Markets Move Toward Mainstream Financial Infrastructure. 

Polymarket remains the industry's dominant crypto-native platform, while Kalshi has established itself as the regulated U.S. leader. Beyond those two, companies including Coinbase, Robinhood and DraftKings have all announced initiatives that give users access to prediction market products covering sports, politics, financial markets and economic events. 

The rapid expansion reflects explosive growth across the sector. Polymarket now regularly processes between $300 million and $400 million in daily trading volume, making it one of crypto's largest consumer applications by activity. 

Meanwhile Hyperliquid’s Prediction Market is Growing Rapidly... 

While Solana's launch grabbed headlines this week, the fastest-growing prediction market in the U.S. Is the recently-launched Hyperliquid. 

The decentralized trading network introduced its HIP-4 prediction market framework in early May, allowing users to trade binary outcome markets entirely onchain. 

Hyperliquid's model differs from traditional prediction markets in several ways. Opening a position is free, with fees charged only when positions are closed or settled. Rather than relying on external oracle providers, the protocol uses its own validator network to resolve objective outcomes. The growth has been remarkably fast. 

Hyperliquid's prediction market recently surpassed $80 million in daily trading volume, less than two months after launch, capturing roughly 20% of Polymarket's comparable trading volume. The broader Hyperliquid network is even larger, processing roughly $9.2 billion in total trading volume over the past 24 hours across its decentralized perpetual futures exchange. 

Hyperliquid is currently trading at $64.09, down 9.90% in the last 30 days. 

Institutional interest appears to be growing as well. While Goldman Sachs recently exited investment positions tied to XRP and Solana ETF products, the bank simultaneously acquired roughly 654,630 shares (valued at approximately $3.3 million) of Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. (ticker: PURR) , a digital asset treasury that accumulates Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens

The Bigger Picture 

Just a year ago, prediction markets were largely synonymous with Polymarket. Today, the competitive landscape is changing rapidly. 

Solana is betting that seamless wallet integration and fast onchain settlement can attract mainstream crypto users. Hyperliquid is experimenting with a lower-cost trading model. Kalshi continues expanding regulated prediction markets in the United States, while major financial and gaming companies increasingly view event-based trading as a strategic growth opportunity. 

As new platforms compete on speed, fees, liquidity and user experience, prediction markets are evolving from a niche crypto application into one of blockchain's fastest-growing financial products. 

For investors, the question is no longer whether prediction markets will become a major crypto vertical—it's which platform will emerge as the industry's long-term winner.