Drift Launches Prediction Market BET

The Solana-based perpetual trading protocol Drift has launched a new betting market called BET.

According to Drift Labs co-founder Cindy Leow, this market allows traders to earn yield on their positions and supports over 30 crypto assets as collateral. Leow shared this development on the social media platform X on Monday.

“When you’re trading perps, you’re synthetically betting on the price of an underlying going up. In prediction markets, the same concept applies. Fundamentally, both are ways of creating financial ties to an outcome,” Leow wrote.

Perpetual swaps, a type of futures contract that do not expire, allow investors to speculate on an asset’s price without needing to own it.

Economists suggest that prediction markets capitalize on the wisdom of the crowd by providing a platform for individuals to wager on future events. These markets have gained popularity in the crypto space, especially during the U.S. election season.

Drift Labs is the core contributor behind Drift Protocol. BET will only be accessible in regions where the Drift protocol operates.

“Taking real events into permissionless financialization opens up the door to bet on everything from making a hyperlocalized bet with a few friends to trying to predict the outcome of a US presidential election,” Leow stated.

The alpha release of BET includes two live contracts related to the U.S. presidential election, with a combined pool of over $300,000 at stake. Drift is planning to expand into various categories, including sports, crypto, and economics, as outlined on their website. The team is incentivizing adoption by distributing FUEL tokens to traders who place bets and stake DRIFT tokens.

BET, which stands for Bullish on Everything, is built on Drift’s decentralized exchange and will utilize its $500 million liquidity pool. The integrated platforms will offer features such as cross-collateral trading and structured bets.

Drift is one of the largest perpetuals trading protocols on Solana, boasting nearly $374.1 million in total value locked, according to the crypto data tracker DeFiLlama.