Ethereum co-founder: 'Polymarket has been the key driving force' behind improvement of prediction markets

Polymarket's trading activity reached approximately $1.16 billion in June 2025, marking its second-highest month on record. Despite a decline in the number of active traders to about 242,000, there was an increase in trade volume per user, indicating participation by institutions or larger individual traders. These metrics demonstrate strong engagement despite fewer retail participants, as reported by The Block.

The broader prediction market sector has seen significant growth since the early Augur era. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have been instrumental in driving institutional adoption. By October 2025, Kalshi's weekly volumes exceeded $1 billion, while Polymarket's valuation more than doubled within three months. This reflects a shift from early experimental markets to large-scale financial ecosystems, according to Investopedia.

Vitalik Buterin is recognized as a Russian-Canadian computer scientist who co-founded Ethereum after proposing it in 2013 and launching it publicly in 2015. As a former co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine, he has been an advocate for decentralized applications, digital identity, and public-goods funding mechanisms. His work continues to influence blockchain governance and market design, as noted by TIME Magazine.

Ethereum was launched in July 2015 as a decentralized blockchain platform designed to run smart contracts and host decentralized applications (dApps). It uses the ether (ETH) cryptocurrency for transactions and supports open-source development across various sectors including finance, gaming, and social platforms. Governance is community-based with proposals implemented through consensus among node operators, according to Ethereum.org.