Polymarket, a popular prediction market platform, is launching a new type of trading market called “attention markets” in partnership with the AI company KAITO. These markets will reportedly let users trade based on topics that are gaining attention online, such as viral trends, social media discussions, and popular cultural events. By combining AI with blockchain-based trading, Polymarket aims to turn public interest into measurable and tradable outcomes.
This collaboration uses advanced technology to track engagement and social trends in real time. This move not only expands the types of markets available on Polymarket but also provides traders with a new way to gauge public settlement.
Polymarket Brings Social Trends to Prediction Markets
According to the latest Forbes report, Polymarket has announced a strategic partnership with Kaito AI to launch “attention markets.” These markets will allow users to place bets on how popular or widely discussed trends, brands, and public figures become.
Kaito CEO Yu Hu stated that the new attention markets offer a unique experience, allowing people to scroll through social media and place bets on what they see. He noted,
“It’ll be a completely new experience when people can scroll through social media and realize they can express their views on what they are seeing and take a side with it on these markets.”
By using Kaito’s technology, Polymarket can track social media activity and measure mindshare, but also identify over sentiment. This means that in addition to knowing what people talk about a topic, the platform can analyse the positive or negative sentiment.
For example, users could bet on questions like “Will Anthropic’s mindshare surpass OpenAI next month?” or “Will sentiment on Elon Musk rise in the coming months?” This approach turns online discussions and social trends into measurable, tradable markets.
Already, Polymarket has tested attention markets with two pilot projects. One asked traders to bet on the platform’s own mindshare, while another focused on “Crypto Twitter mindshare.” These pilots saw significant participation, which signals the potential success of the latest project. The platform claims that it has already processed over $1 billion in trading volume in January alone.
Unveiling Prevailing Challenges
As of now, the biggest challenge for attention markets is helping users understand the new metrics like “mindshare” and “sentiment.” It may be difficult for people to understand how these metrics work initially.
These metrics track how much people are talking about a topic and whether the conversation is positive or negative. Educating users on this is important to ensure the markets get enough participation and trading activity.
Rising Scrutiny of Prediction Markets in the US
Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are facing increased scrutiny in the United States. These enforcement regulations have significantly affected the operations of these platforms, leading to growing legal battles.
One of the latest incidents includes Polymarket’s lawsuit against Massachusetts, which argues against the state-level enforcement regulations. The platform reportedly claimed that the state’s intervention has restricted its operations. According to Polymarket, the regulation of prediction markets falls under the jurisdiction of the CFTC and not the state. Polymarket CLO Neal Kumar posited,
“Congress gave the CFTC, not states, exclusive authority over event contracts. These are national markets with critical questions that must be resolved in federal court. These are national markets with critical questions that must be resolved in federal court.”
Platforms like Kalshi and Coinbase have also filed similar lawsuits. They also have a similar approach, raising arguments against state-level oversight.