Nikolas Sargeant
Polygon has surpassed Ethereum in daily transaction fees for the first time, driven by a surge in user activity on prediction market Polymarket as the sector continues expanding following the last US election cycle.
According to Token Terminal data, Polygon generated $407,100 in transaction fees on Friday compared to Ethereum's $211,700, marking the first recorded instance of Polygon exceeding Ethereum in daily fee generation. The gap subsequently narrowed, with Polygon recording $303,000 in daily fees on Saturday while Ethereum saw approximately $285,000, suggesting sustained elevated activity rather than a single-day anomaly.
Matthias Seidl, co-founder of Ethereum analytics platform growthepie, highlighted Polygon's recent activity growth in an X post on Monday, stating it has been "fully driven by Polymarket." Seidl shared a chart showing Polymarket accounted for just over $1 million in fees on Polygon over the past seven days, with the next highest application on the layer-2 network being Origin World at approximately $130,000.
Polymarket, one of the most prominent prediction markets to emerge from the blockchain sector since its 2020 launch, is built on Polygon and uses Polygon-based USDC for trading. The prediction market's growing popularity has directly translated into increased network activity and fee generation for the layer-2 network.
Polygon highlighted surging Polymarket activity in a Saturday X post, noting that over $15 million in wagers were placed on a single Oscars market category alone, adding that "Polygon is the chain underneath it all." The team also noted a strong network of trustless agents being deployed on the layer-2 network to exploit trading opportunities on the prediction market.
Growing stablecoin usage has contributed to Polygon's network expansion alongside prediction market activity. Polygon data analyst petertherock noted in a Sunday X post that the network recorded a new weekly high of 28 million USDC transactions, reflecting Circle's deepening integration with Polygon infrastructure.
Prediction markets have experienced significant growth since the last US election, with the sector's rapid adoption prompting several cryptocurrency firms to launch competing offerings. The boom has reinforced Polymarket's dominant position and demonstrated how single high-profile applications can dramatically influence layer-2 network economics.
The fee flip highlights shifting user demand patterns toward layer-2 networks as transaction costs and scalability advantages attract activity away from Ethereum's mainnet. While Ethereum maintains substantially higher average daily fees over longer timeframes, Polygon's ability to temporarily surpass the network underscores evolving competitive dynamics in blockchain infrastructure.
