Crypto bets on war go mainstream

In 2025, crypto-based prediction markets and onchain perpetual contracts achieved mainstream status, evidenced by high-volume trading on geopolitical events, like a contract on Nicolás Maduro's capture which saw massive returns. The shift was driven by architectural improvements: decentralized platforms moved to custom Layer 1s or appchains, drastically reducing latency and eliminating gas fees, closing the performance gap with centralized venues. Furthermore, liquidity engineering, using internal matching systems and LP-backed pools, ensured reliable execution and capital efficiency. Distribution was key, as perp trading became embedded directly into consumer wallets (MetaMask, Phantom) and messaging apps like Telegram, collapsing onboarding friction and broadening the user base. Platforms also expanded offerings to synthetic exposure for forex, commodities, and equities, resembling a parallel global derivatives layer. While regulation reduced existential risk, the convergence of mature infrastructure, improved liquidity, mainstream distribution, and reduced regulatory uncertainty marked 2025 as the turning point, signaling that global market structure innovation is occurring outside traditional rails.

(Source：CryptoSlate)