Blockchain-based prediction-market platform Opinion said it raised $20 million in pre-Series A round, underscoring that some corners of the crypto economy can still attract sizeable funding even when broader markets are depressed.

The round included backing from Hack VC, Jump Crypto, Primitive Ventures, Decasonic and others, according to an emailed announcement on Wednesday.

Opinion operates more like Polymarket — with markets settled on-chain — than a centralized exchange such as Kalshi. “Our settlement works entirely onchain,” the Opinion team told CoinDesk via email.

The company handles about a third of all prediction-market volume globally and carries more than $130 million in open interest, it said citing Dune Analytics. Binance Research estimated total December trading volume of around $7 billion, pointing to rising demand as regulatory and political uncertainty intensified.

The firm’s rise dovetails with broader structural growth in the prediction-market industry. U.S. bank Citizens has noted that prediction markets, once niche, are evolving into a new asset class, with monthly trading volumes around $10 billion as platforms expand beyond sports into macroeconomic and policy outcomes.

The fundraise also suggests that even in a muted crypto cycle, blockchain-native infrastructure addressing real demand such as event trading continues to draw investor capital.

Opinion’s pitch is diversification. While rivals draw most activity from sports and politics, Opinion spreads trading across macro, pre-token generation events, culture and crypto, covering everything from CPI prints to geopolitical outcomes.

Founder and CEO Forrest Liu said the funding will be used to deepen the company's regional presence and expand globally ahead of the 2026 World Cup and elections.