Research has shown that a small minority of traders has a significant impact on market prices, but new data suggests that an even smaller group is reaping the majority of the rewards. A report by blockchain analytics firm Solidus Labs found that profit concentration on Polymarket is extremely high, with less than 1% of wallets accounting for approximately half of all gains in key markets. Between December 2025 and February 2026, just 0.55% of profitable maker wallets and 0.26% of winning taker wallets captured around 50% of gains, with roughly $8 million in profits going to each of these small groups.
This data supports previous findings that a small group of traders drives most price discovery, with around 3% of Polymarket traders responsible for the majority of market movements. The report highlights that this concentration of wealth does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, but rather that some traders have a significant advantage due to their sophistication, capital, and speed.
However, the scale of the imbalance suggests a structural divide between a small group of privileged traders and the broader base of participants. The report also notes signs of wash trading, with around 15% of volume in some markets showing patterns consistent with self-trading or economically neutral positions. Solidus Labs' study is not impartial, as the firm sells a surveillance platform that relies on the report's data, but the numbers are verifiable and on-chain.