A recent study by Solidus Labs has uncovered that a remarkably small group of traders is capturing a disproportionate share of profits on Polymarket, with less than 1% of wallets accounting for roughly half of the gains in key markets. Between December 2025 and February 2026, a mere 0.55% of profitable maker wallets and 0.26% of winning taker wallets amassed approximately $8 million each, out of a total of $16 million in profits.
This discovery builds upon earlier research suggesting that a small minority of traders drives price movements, with a London Business School and Yale paper finding that about 3% of Polymarket traders are responsible for most price discovery. The report highlights that this concentration of wealth does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, but rather that some traders possess significant advantages, including greater capital, better infrastructure, and more effective execution strategies. Furthermore, the study identifies signs of wash trading, with around 15% of volume in certain markets exhibiting patterns consistent with self-trading or economically neutral positions.
While some of this activity may be driven by incentive farming ahead of Polymarket's forthcoming POLY airdrop, the data underscores the need for surveillance infrastructure to monitor and regulate these markets.