Research has shown that a tiny fraction of traders is reaping the majority of the rewards on Polymarket, with less than 1% of wallets accounting for roughly half of all profits in key markets. According to a report by blockchain analytics firm Solidus Labs, this profit concentration is extreme, with 0.55% of profitable maker wallets and 0.26% of winning taker wallets capturing around 50% of gains between December 2025 and February 2026. This translates to approximately $8 million out of $16 million in profits.
The study suggests that a small minority of traders drives price discovery, while an even smaller group retains most of the profits. The report highlights that this imbalance may be due to some traders having significant advantages, including greater capital, better infrastructure, and more effective execution strategies. Additionally, the study identified signs of wash trading, with around 15% of volume in some markets exhibiting patterns consistent with self-trading or economically neutral positions.
Solidus Labs notes that this type of trading has no equivalent in traditional finance and may be driven by incentive farming rather than pure manipulation, potentially in anticipation of Polymarket's forthcoming POLY airdrop. While the data is verifiable, the report's framing should be considered in the context of Solidus Labs' sales pitch for its surveillance platform, HALO.