Polymarket customers positioned 27 bets on the outcomes of the Golden Globe Awards, with 26 of them turning out to be right. Because the main prediction market grows in recognition, so do issues over insider buying and selling.
The partnership between Polymarket and the Golden Globes additionally raised questions on whether or not this would be the new regular for future awards ceremonies.
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Polymarket Posts 96% Golden Globes Hit Charge
On Friday, the Golden Globes introduced in a press launch that it had partnered with the world’s largest prediction marketplace for the annual awards present.
That very same day, Polymarket created 28 Golden Globe-specific polls, with 27 of them completely targeted on the outcomes of the assorted classes at stake.
In simply three days, tens of millions of customers flocked to the platform to position their wagers on who this yr’s winners can be. Polls ranged from Finest Movement Image to Finest Podcast, with some buying and selling volumes exceeding $275,000. In whole, contracts amassed at the very least $2.5 million in bets.
Polymarket noticed a surge in Golden Globe-related polls forward of the awards ceremony. Supply: Polymarket.
On Sunday, the ceremony unfolded as anticipated. By the tip of the night time, onstage winners weren’t the one ones leaving with trophies.
Polymarket bettors had motive to have a good time too, with the platform appropriately calling 26 of 27 classes, a 96% hit price.
The one betters left to lick their woes had been those that positioned their cash on Sean Penn as finest supporting actor as a substitute of Stellan Skarsgard, who received for his efficiency in Sentimental Worth.
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The last-minute partnership stunned many observers. Moreso, the outcomes drew renewed consideration to issues about potential insider buying and selling on these loosely regulated platforms.
Belief Questions Develop Round Occasion Contracts
Although 2026 is simply two weeks in, a sequence of occasions associated to prediction market polls has raised a number of eyebrows.
On Wednesday, an issue born out of the White Home press room passed off after Secretary Karoline Leavitt concluded her every day briefing at roughly 64 minutes and 30 seconds, simply shy of the 65-minute mark that prediction market Kalshi had set as a betting threshold.
On the time, the market confirmed a 98% chance that the briefing would exceed the 65-minute mark. Merchants who wager towards this consequence noticed returns of as much as 50 occasions their funding inside seconds.
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Right this moment’s White Home Press Briefing had a 98% likelihood of working over 65 minutes – till Karoline Leavitt abruptly ended it with seconds to spare.
Merchants on the NO aspect made 50x in seconds. pic.twitter.com/Fe0MVMq9Oj
— PredictionMarketTrader (@PredMTrader) January 7, 2026
The occasion rapidly generated concern over potential insider buying and selling. Nevertheless, Kalshi later dismissed these claims as baseless, provided that the ballot noticed a low buying and selling quantity.
Nonetheless, these issues have recent precedents which are onerous to shrug off.
On January 3, simply hours earlier than the US introduced it had captured and extradited Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, one Polymarket dealer remodeled $400,000 by betting he can be faraway from energy earlier than the tip of the month.
Polymarket has additionally attracted politically related capital. In keeping with Axios, in 2025, the corporate introduced that it had obtained an funding from 1789 Capital, a enterprise agency affiliated with Donald Trump Jr., who additionally joined its advisory board.
Taken collectively, these episodes have additionally drawn consideration to the rising overlap between crypto and prediction markets.
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Crypto Flows Rise With Betting Volumes
Polymarket is carefully tied to on-chain rails. Customers can switch funds throughout varied networks, together with Ethereum, Polygon, Base, and Arbitrum, and deposit property reminiscent of USDT and USDC.
As betting exercise grows, demand for stablecoins specifically is prone to rise with it, pushing them additional into the award betting scene.
With the Oscars roughly two months away, the Golden Globes consequence raises questions on whether or not equally correct prediction markets will change into a well-known characteristic in future award reveals.
The Academy Awards haven’t but introduced any partnership of the kind. Regardless, Polymarket has listed polls on class outcomes.
Among the many 22 polls at the moment out there, buying and selling volumes vary from $112,000 to $8 million.
