Opinion, a blockchain prediction market platform similar to Polymarket or Kalshi, announced today, February 4, that it has raised $20 million in a pre-Series A funding round. This investment has been backed by Hack VC, Jump Crypto, Primitive Ventures, and Decasonic, among others, and shows us that prediction markets are not a passing fad, but a new paradigm within the crypto sector, despite the fact that overall conditions in the cryptocurrency market remain moderate.
Interest in blockchain-based prediction markets continues to grow
Market data does not lie, and a strong rebound can be seen across the sector. Let’s look at some data to clarify this: The total value locked (TVL) in prediction markets reached an all-time high of $572 million, an increase of 281% over 2025. In January 2026, a new monthly record for trading volume was set at over $12 billion.
Looking at some specific cases, Kalshi’s open interest rose to $404 million after quadrupling in just half a year. Opinion, for its part, accounted for approximately one-third of the global prediction market volume and recorded more than $130 million in open interest as of the date of this article. The platform’s commissions were considerable: Opinion took 54.3% of the total market commissions, exceeding $1.5 million in a single week ending in mid-January.
New Opportunities and Risks for Opinion
Investors and some banks have begun to treat prediction markets as a distinct asset class. The wide variety of products on offer, which now go far beyond traditional sports betting, has expanded to include political and macroeconomic events, as well as more crypto-specific events such as those related to token issuance and the future price of certain digital assets. All of this has greatly expanded the appeal to different sectors, which has increased the depth of the market and allowed Opinion to differentiate itself from its competitors.
Although the crypto market is currently in decline, with Bitcoin now far from the ATH it reached last year, companies like Opinion are able to secure fresh funding thanks to their solid business model that allows them to generate revenue through commissions.
However, the risks of such projects have already become apparent. Market participants frequently complain about the possibility of insider trading as the sector grows. Such friction could affect liquidity, counterparty risk, and the viability of certain types of events if regulators decide to restrict or redefine permitted markets.
For traders and institutional treasuries, recent flows indicate greater available liquidity and deeper commission pools, but also greater scrutiny from regulators and government entities.
