Polymarket Switches on Instant Bitcoin Lightning Deposits, Cutting 60-Minute Waits to Under a Second
Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, has enabled instant bitcoin deposits over the Lightning Network using the Spark protocol. The upgrade credits deposits in under one second with near-zero fees, replacing a prior onchain process that required three to six confirmations and took 10–60 minutes.
Spark, developed by Lightspark, uses statechain technology to validate transactions at broadcast, checking for double-spend risk and fee adequacy without requiring onchain confirmations. This removes the need for Polymarket to manage its own Lightning nodes, as a single SDK handles onchain, Lightning, and stablecoin rails. Deposits remain self-custodial, with wallets tied to user keys.
The move comes as Polymarket faces increased competition from regulated rival Kalshi, which posted $5.42 billion in April taker volume, surpassing Polymarket’s $1.99 billion. Polymarket recently added perpetual futures for U.S. markets to broaden its offerings. By enabling direct bitcoin deposits, it removes the conversion step that previously pushed users toward stablecoins. Wallet providers including Breez, Xverse, and Cake are building on Spark, signaling that instant bitcoin settlement could become standard across consumer crypto apps.