Survey: Polymarket User Retention Rate Significantly Higher Than Most DeFi, Wallet, and Exchange Platforms

December 17 — In the crypto space, the longstanding pain point—“acquiring new users is easy, retaining them is hard”—remains prominent. But prediction market platform Polymarket’s user retention far outperforms the industry average. Per a study by analytics firm Dune and market maker Keyrock, researchers tracked monthly cohorts of new active users to see if they stayed active traders in subsequent months. Among a sample of 275 crypto projects (networks, DeFi, wallets, trading apps), Polymarket boasts an average retention rate of over 85% across its protocol. The report notes that in markets relying heavily on frequent participation and liquidity, poor user retention typically signals “skin-deep” growth—and long-term active users remain rare in crypto. Analysis points to the key distinction between prediction markets and traditional crypto apps: their strong event-driven nature. Trading centers on real-world events (elections, sports, macroeconomic data), which keeps users coming back consistently and cuts reliance on subsidies or short-term incentives. This trait likely explains Polymarket’s standout retention results. Against this backdrop, multiple crypto firms are ramping up their prediction market presence: - Coinbase plans to launch tokenized stocks and a prediction market; - Phantom is partnering with Kalshi to integrate event-driven trading into its wallet; - Bitnomial has secured CFTC approval to operate prediction markets and clearing services; - Gemini already offers its proprietary prediction market across all 50 U.S. states.