Whalewalletsspentmorethan$70MinPolymarketbetsonTrump’selectionvictory.ThebidsonPolymarkettokensoriginatedwith10majorwhales.

Atotalof10whalewalletsarebehindthebiggestnumberofbidsfavoringTrumpasthewinneroftheUSPresidentialelections.Inthefinalstretchbeforeelectionday,morethan$70MinbidsweremadeinfavorofTrumpbecominganelectionwinner.

Thewhalesspentexactly$70.6Btobuy‘yes’tokensonPolymarket,drivinguptheTrumpwinchanceto66.7%.Polymarketmarkedanotherall-timehighforbidsonTrump’sside.

Trump\'soddsjustsetanotherall-timehighagainstKamalaHarris.

🟥Trump•66.7%chance
📘Harris•33.3%chancepic.twitter.com/aULiYJlkpC

—Polymarket(@Polymarket)October29,2024

Outofthe10knownwallets,fourareconsideredtobelongtothesameperson,oneofthebiggestsingleplayers.ThetopfourwalletswerelinkedtotheidentityofaFrenchnationalwithoverwhelminginterestintheUSelection.

Polymarketreachespeakactivity

Polymarketisnotapollwebsite,andthebetsdonotreflectresearchorstatisticsonactualelectionoutcomes.However,thePolymarketbetsandbidsfor‘yes’or‘no’tokensreflecttheconfidenceorrisk-takingofindividualplayers.

ThevolumesontheTrump-Harrisbettingpairreached$2.7B.Polymarketregistered31Kuniqueactiveusers,remainingthetopapponPolygon.

Polymarketreachedpeakuserlevels,remainingoneofthetopappsonPolygon.|Source:DappRadar

Nothingpreventsplayersfrombettingonthe‘no’tokenforKamalaHarriswinningtheelections.Overall,holdersoftheoppositepositionsaremorediversebuthavesmaller-sizedbets.Polymarketalsonotedonetraderbetonthe‘no’token,buttherapidlossofvalueledtoadeeploss.

TherearealsoothermarketswheretheratioofTrumptoHarriswinningisnotasdramatic.Thepopularvotepollseesthe‘yes’tokenleadwith58%forKamalaHarrisand42%oddsforTrump.Thedisparityledtospeculationsthatwhalesweredeliberatelyswayingthemarket.

Atonepoint,bidsonthetokenaccelerateduntiltheypushedtheTrumpoddsabove97%.Suchabetwouldhavelittlemeaningandevensmallerearningsforthewhale.Afterthat,big-positionbuyersweremorecareful,expandingtheoddsataslowerpace.

BuyingacceleratesforTrumpbets

Thebehaviorofwhalesisnotbasedonsimplebets.TheparticipantsonthemostactivePolygonmarketarealsochoosingdifferentactivitylevels,dependingonthetimeperiod.MostoftherecentwhalesbecameactiveattheendofSeptember.

Inthefinalweekbeforetheelections,large-scalebuyingfor‘yes’tokensdominatesthemarket.Inthepastday,high-volumebuyingaccelerated,withnearly$1Minordersmadebyasinglebuyerwithinhours.AsexpectationsforaTrumpvictoryincreased,someofthepreviousbuyersalsoliquidatedtheirpositions,lockinginthelatestgains.

Notalltradersaremakinggains,despitetheclearodds.OneTrumpbuyeriscurrentlyatalossof$12Kafterstartingabuyingspreeat$0.67for‘yes’tokens.Oneofthemostactivewhalesinthepastday,withserialtransactionsabove$100K,isGCotrell93.Thebuyerholdsatotalpositionvaluedat$5.6M,withnetgainsof$22K.

ThebiggestpositionremainsthatofFredi9999,withmorethan$19.7Mlockedinbettingpositionsanda$3.44Mgain.Thelarge-scalebuyerisalsoknowntobeaFrenchnational,makingitlessprobablethatthemaingoalisthemanipulationofpublicopinion.

Thepricemaycontinuetofluctuateinthecomingdays,creatingalivelymarket.ThepresenceofspeculativebetsshowsnotallbuyingonPolymarketaimsatdistortingtheelectionoddsdeliberately.Thepresenceofmorewhaleswithunconnectedwalletssuggeststhebetsmaynotbedeliberatemanipulation,butanhonestexpectationofwinning.

BetsonTrumpwinningbuiltlargerpositionscomparedtobetsinfavorofHarris.|Source:Polymarket

Betsof$10,000andabovearemorediverse,withmorebuyingofKamalaHarris‘yes’tokens.Thosearestillconsideredwhalepositions,buttheyaremorerandom,unlikethetop10whalesthatdeliberatelybuiltuptheirholdings.

Polymarketkeepsdenyingdeliberatemanipulation,asbettingmarketsaredesignedtoself-balance,especiallyifbuyersaredefendinganon-viableposition.Additionally,Polymarket’smostactivebethasgrowntoobigtomanipulatedeliberately.

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