Prediction Markets Racked Up More Than $24 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume Despite Trust Issues

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/prediction-markets-racked-up-more-than-$24-billion-in-monthly-trading-volume-despite-trust-issues. Polymarket and Kalshi hit $24B in monthly volume, but lawsuits over fake trades and rigged outcomes expose prediction markets' trust problem. Check more stories related to finance at: https://hackernoon.com/c/finance. You can also check exclusive content about #prediction-markets, #polymarket, #crypto-regulation, #web3-trust, #true-prediction-market, #prediction-market-contract, #kalshi, and more. This story was written by: @johnwrites. Learn more about this writer by checking @johnwrites's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Polymarket and Kalshi's combined monthly volume hit ~$24B by April 2026, up from under $5B in September 2025. But lawsuits, including a June 2026 case alleging Polymarket paid influencers to fake trades, expose a deeper problem: no objective way to verify trades are real or outcomes are resolved fairly. Newer platforms like Opinion Labs and Rain Trade are trying to fix this with cryptographic verification and hybrid AI/human resolution.