Election Odds Data from Polymarket Integrated into Bloomberg's Terminal
Leading financial data and news service provider Bloomberg LP is set to incorporate election odds data from the crypto betting platform Polymarket into its widely used Terminal.
“We are in the process of adding Polymarket data to WSL,” Michael McDonough, Bloomberg’s chief economist for financial products, said in a recent post on X.
The integration marks a significant step in the recognition of prediction markets as a vital tool for analyzing political trends and forecasting election outcomes.
It also highlights the increasing adoption of web3 technologies by established financial institutions.
Bloomberg’s Terminal to Feature Polymarket Odds
Bloomberg’s Terminal, which commands about one-third of the global market share for financial data services with approximately 350,000 subscribers, will now feature Polymarket’s odds for the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
These odds will be displayed alongside data from other prediction markets, such as PredictIt, and traditional polling services.
Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction market operating on the Polygon network, has become a prominent platform for tracking real-time election odds.
The platform allows users to bet on a wide range of event outcomes, leveraging transparent on-chain data and smart contracts for trade execution and payouts.
According to Dune Analytics, Polymarket’s trading volume for August approached $450 million, with nearly $760 million bet on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election as of late August.
As the U.S. presidential race heats up, Polymarket bettors have shown a preference for Republican candidate Donald Trump, who holds a slight edge over Democratic contender Kamala Harris.
However, Polymarket faces competition from other platforms, including Solana-based Drift Protocol’s BET platform, which recently surpassed Polymarket in daily trading volume for the first time.
more recently, Polymarket users correctly predicted the withdrawal of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential race.
Polymarket Faces Legal Challenges
Earlier this month, five United States Senators and three House representatives called for a ban on betting activities linked to the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
The bipartisan group consists of prominent figures such as Senators Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, and Representatives Jamie Raskin and John Sarbanes, among others.
In a letter addressed to Rostin Behnam, Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the lawmakers highlighted the perilous influence these betting markets could exert on the electoral landscape.
The group expressed concerns over the possibility of billionaires leveraging large wagers to sway election outcomes, thereby eroding public trust in the democratic process.
“Political bets change the motivations behind each vote, replacing political convictions with financial calculations.”
Launched in 2020, Polymarket operates as a decentralized prediction market platform where users bet on the outcomes of real-world events using cryptocurrencies.
The platform uses the USDC stablecoin, allowing participants to buy and sell shares in forecasts related to the likelihood of future events.
Polymarket has recently achieved record-breaking trading volumes.
As interest in the US election grows, the platform reached $1 billion in monthly trading volume for the first time, with $343 million recorded in July alone.
