A recent study by Solidus Labs has found that a tiny fraction of traders on Polymarket are reaping the majority of the profits, with less than 1% of wallets accounting for roughly half of all gains in key markets. The report analyzed data from Polymarket's politics markets between December 2025 and February 2026, revealing that 0.55% of profitable maker wallets and 0.26% of winning taker wallets captured around 50% of the gains, equivalent to approximately $8 million out of $16 million in profits.
This discovery reinforces previous research suggesting that a small minority of traders drive price movements, with the added insight that an even smaller group is accumulating the majority of the profits. The study also identified signs of wash trading, with around 15% of volume in some markets exhibiting patterns consistent with self-trading or economically neutral positions.
While the data does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, it highlights a significant disparity between a small group of sophisticated traders and the broader base of participants, with the former operating with considerable advantages in terms of capital, infrastructure, and execution strategies.