Polygon has moved ahead of Ethereum in daily transaction fees for the first time. Data cited from Token Terminal shows Polygon generated $407,100 in fees on Friday, while Ethereum posted $211,700. The jump came as trading on prediction market Polymarket accelerated and pushed activity across the Layer 2 network to a new level.
Polymarket drove most of the fee expansion
The biggest source behind the increase was Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets built on Polygon. Matthias Seidl, co-founder of Ethereum analytics platform growthepie, said user engagement on Polymarket was the main reason Polygon’s fee numbers climbed so sharply. Over the past week, Polymarket produced more than $1 million in fees, making it the leading application on Polygon by a wide margin.
The scale of usage showed up in individual markets as well. A single Oscars-related market category recently drew $15 million in wagers. Polygon said its network served as the backbone for that betting activity. That kind of concentrated demand translated into more on-chain transactions and, in turn, higher fee generation for Polygon.
Stablecoin transfers added to network momentum
Polymarket was not the only growth driver. Stablecoin activity on Polygon also increased, with USDC transactions reaching a new high. On Sunday, Polygon data analyst Petertherock said the network hit a weekly peak of 28 million USDC transactions. The figure points to broader usage across the chain, not just a single-app spike.
Taken together, Polymarket’s fee contribution and the rise in USDC transfers gave Polygon a strong boost in throughput and revenue. The combination was enough to lift the network above Ethereum on a daily fee basis, even if only for one session.
Prediction markets are reshaping Layer 2 traffic
As more users moved to Polymarket, transaction volume on Polygon kept rising. The source material notes that growing interest in prediction markets, especially around events such as the U.S. election, is starting to influence how Layer 2 networks develop. In this case, Polygon turned that demand into a clear lead over Ethereum in daily fees.
The report does not provide evidence on how long the gap will last. What it does show is straightforward: explosive growth on Polymarket has already pushed Polygon into direct comparison with Ethereum on one of the market’s most watched on-chain metrics.