Polymarket has launched a new on-chain feature allowing users to bet on Bitcoin price movements in five-minute intervals, marking one of the shortest-duration crypto contracts offered by a major prediction platform.
The rollout comes as traders increasingly seek real-time sentiment tools to capitalise on heightened market volatility and rapid intraday price swings.
For now the contracts are limited to Bitcoin, though the platform expects to expand support to major altcoins as demand for ultra-short-term crypto wagers accelerates.
All trades are executed on-chain to enhance transparency and security, with pricing updating dynamically in line with immediate market reaction and trader positioning.
The initiative builds on existing 15-minute, hourly and four-hour contracts and arrives as prediction markets record exponential growth, with individual polls drawing trading volumes in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket have seen tens of millions of dollars directed towards contracts tied to Bitcoin’s monthly price targets as well as forecasts for Ethereum, XRP and Solana.
While the surge in short-term wagering has boosted activity across crypto prediction platforms, some analysts warn that an increasing emphasis on price-based probabilities could divert capital and attention away from long-term adoption, integration and durable value creation within the digital asset ecosystem.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $66,387.04.