Prediction Market Volume Jumped 75% to $44.8B in June as the World Cup Drove Record Trading
Combined trading volume across the two largest prediction-market platforms soared 75% in June to $44.8 billion, a record for the sector, as the FIFA World Cup drove a wave of event-contract activity on Kalshi and Polymarket.
Kalshi, Polymarket’s international platform, and Polymarket U.S. traded a combined $44.8 billion in June, up from May’s $25.66 billion, according to The Block’s data dashboard. Kalshi accounted for roughly 70% of the total at $31.5 billion, growing 87% month over month.
The World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S. starting June 11, became the largest liquidity event prediction markets have seen. Kalshi alone processed about $7.4 billion in World Cup trades during the tournament — more than its entire March Madness volume — while Polymarket’s event markets drew roughly $6.4 billion. This demonstrated that the infrastructure can handle sustained trading around a single global event.
Prediction-market volume had climbed steadily earlier in 2026, with combined monthly totals around $25.7 billion in March and $25.66 billion in May. June’s $44.8 billion marks a tournament-driven step change, but whether that level holds after the World Cup ends remains uncertain.
Some trackers reported June totals above $50 billion by including additional venues like Rothera, but The Block’s figure covers only the two dominant platforms and Polymarket U.S. A separate $50 billion forecast from Macquarie refers to total World Cup wagering across the entire event, not monthly prediction-market volume, and is not directly comparable.
It is important to note that trading volume is not the same as money wagered. Prediction-market contracts are bought and sold repeatedly before settlement, so a single dollar can be counted multiple times. For context, U.S. legal sportsbooks handled roughly $14 billion per month in wagers in 2025, a measure of money bet rather than contracts traded.
Whether June’s surge marks a durable shift or just a World Cup spike is the key question for the coming months. For sports fans, there will always be something to follow and trade on.