Financial data and news service Bloomberg is incorporating election data from crypto gambling platform Polymarket into its Terminal service, signaling growing institutional interest in blockchain-based prediction markets.
Michael McDonough, Bloomberg’s chief economist for financial products, announced the integration on August 29. The move will allow Bloomberg Terminal users to view Polymarket’s real-time U.S. presidential election odds, as well as data from other prediction markets and polls.
As the world’s leading financial data platform with approximately 350,000 subscribers worldwide, Bloomberg’s inclusion of Polymarket data represents a major milestone for crypto prediction markets. The Terminal controls approximately one-third of the market share for financial data services.
Polymarket, built on the Polygon blockchain network, has become a popular platform for tracking US election odds. The protocol allows users to bet on different outcomes of events using smart contracts for transparent trading and payouts. August trading volume on Polymarket is approaching $450 million, with nearly $760 million wagered on the outcome of the November 2024 presidential election.
Current Polymarket odds show Republican candidate Donald Trump with a slight lead of 50%, compared to 48% for Democrat Kamala Harris. The platform’s bettors accurately predicted the departure of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of the presidential race in August, with odds rising from 8% to more than 90% ahead of his withdrawal announcement.
Earlier this month, Polymarket partnered with Perplexity AI to offer AI-powered event summaries and predictions on outcomes like elections and market trends. Crypto Briefing also discussed how Polymarket has seen a surge in trading as the unpredictable 2024 US presidential election approached, pushing bets above $300 million. In a recent defense, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said Polymarket and other prediction market platforms provide a “social epistemic tool” for a massive user base.
As Polymarket faces competition from rivals such as Solana-based Drift Protocol’s BET platform, Bloomberg’s integration underlines the growing importance of crypto prediction markets for analyzing political trends.