What new activities have emerged recently in the Gate prediction markets? A comprehensive breakdown of the eSports trading season and event contracts

In 2026, the forecast market is undergoing a rapid transformation—from a niche crypto sub-sector to mainstream financial infrastructure. In Q1 2026, global forecast market trading volume jumped to about $75 billion, while it was only $440 million in the same period in 2024. In Q2 2026, quarterly forecast market trading volume reached $109 billion, up 39% quarter-over-quarter and up 18x year-over-year. Bernstein estimates that total trading volume in 2026 will reach $240 billion, up 370% from 2025.

As the first centralized exchange to integrate with Polymarket globally, Gate continues to deepen its focus in the forecast market space. In July 2026, Gate’s forecast market saw a series of new developments—multiple incentive campaigns spanning esports and finance, along with ongoing product feature upgrades.

Gate Forecast Market July 2026: Overview of Key Activities

In July 2026, Gate’s forecast market will simultaneously push forward three major events, covering esports event prediction, global financial market prediction, and short-term prediction of crypto asset trends—bringing the total prize pool to more than 250k USDT. The details are as follows.

Esports Trading Season: 200k USDT in rewards, covering EWC, LPL, and LCK

Esports Trading Season is currently the largest-scale event in Gate’s forecast market. The event runs from July 20, 2026, 16:00 to August 10, 2026, 16:00 (UTC+8). It is conducted through Gate Polymarket’s esports prediction markets, covering multiple top-tier competitions such as Esports World Cup (EWC), LPL, and LCK, and includes popular games including League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and VALORANT.

The rewards are divided into three tiers:

First tier: new user first order reward. New users who make their first esports prediction trade with a single transaction amount of at least 100 USDT can receive a 5 USDT Gate Polymarket experience voucher. This reward is only available to the first 500 eligible participants.

Second tier: weekly trading volume tasks. If your cumulative weekly prediction trading volume reaches different thresholds, you can unlock corresponding experience vouchers: 5,000 USDT → 5 USDT voucher; 20,000 USDT → 10 USDT voucher; 50k USDT → 20 USDT voucher; 200k USDT → 100 USDT voucher; 500,000 USDT → 200 USDT voucher. Weekly tasks are calculated independently and reset each week. Active users can earn rewards multiple times within three weeks.

Third tier: leaderboard reward pool. The event sets up a 50,000 USDT prize pool for its betting leaderboard. Traders ranked in the top 100 receive rewards based on their cumulative valid prediction trading volume: the 1st place requires at least 10,000,000 USDT in trading volume to win 10,000 USDT; the 2nd requires 6,000,000 USDT to win 6,000 USDT; the 3rd requires 4,000,000 USDT to win 4,000 USDT; ranks 4 to 10 split 10,000 USDT evenly, with each person requiring at least 1,000,000 USDT; ranks 11 to 30 split 10,000 USDT evenly, with each person requiring at least 100,000 USDT; ranks 31 to 100 receive 10,000 USDT distributed proportionally.

Participants must complete registration and identity verification through the official event page, then trade in the Gate Polymarket esports section. Sub-accounts are not eligible. Leaderboard rewards will be distributed within 14 business days after market settlement and platform review.

Global Finance Double Concerto: Trade global stocks and anticipate financial hot spots

From July 24, 2026, 18:00 to August 28, 2026, 18:00 (UTC+8), Gate launches the “Global Finance Double Concerto” event. The event features two independent incentive tracks, with a total 200k USDT prize pool.

Track One: Weekly Stock Trading Leaderboard. Users can trade U.S. stocks, Hong Kong stocks, and Korean stocks to compete for the weekly stock trading leaderboard.

Track Two: Weekly Polymarket Prediction Trading Leaderboard. Users can participate in prediction trading for financial events such as earnings reports, CPI, indices, and stock prices, competing for the weekly prediction leaderboard.

For both leaderboards, the top weekly reward unlocks up to 20,000 USDT each, and the rewards can be stacked. In addition, extra rewards apply to first trade by new users, VIP registrations, and event sharing. The event deeply integrates traditional stock trading with prediction markets, providing users with a comprehensive trading scenario across asset categories.

Event Contracts Launch Carnival: a 50k USDT prize pool, with first-order loss compensation

On July 21, 2026, Gate officially launched Event Contracts. Event Contracts is an innovative prediction-based trading product that allows users to make directional forecasts on the short-term price movements of crypto assets such as BTC and ETH.

Unlike traditional leveraged futures, Event Contracts removes leverage, margin, and liquidation requirements. Contract prices range from 0.01 USDT to 0.99 USDT, reflecting the market’s estimated probability for each outcome. Users can trade on different time cycles such as 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, or 4 hours.

To celebrate the launch, Gate released the Event Contracts Launch Carnival from July 21, 2026, 02:00 UTC to July 31, 2026, 08:00 UTC. The event includes a 50,000 USDT rewards pool. Within it, the “first-order loss compensation” mechanism states: if a user’s first Event Contracts trade ends in a loss, Gate will compensate them based on the actual loss amount, with each user eligible for up to 5 USDT in compensation. This provides new users with a low-risk window to try the new product.

Gate Forecast Market: Product Features Continue to Upgrade

In addition to incentive campaigns, Gate’s forecast market product features continue to iterate throughout 2026.

Real-time big-move notification feature goes live

On July 13, 2026, Gate’s forecast market officially launched the real-time big-move notification feature. This feature monitors large buy and sell transactions in the prediction market in real time and automatically aggregates and displays them in a unified “Big Moves” list. Users no longer need to enter each event details page to check the order book— they can quickly understand which events are drawing concentrated attention and which viewpoints are being recognized by the market within a single interface. This feature requires upgrading the Gate App to v8.27.0 or above.

Smart money tracking system

In mid-May 2026, Gate completed a round of system upgrades focused on identifying “smart money.” Users can see how experienced and high-performing participants position themselves across different prediction events, allowing them to directly observe patterns in fund flows, trader confidence, and strategic positioning. This lowers the information barrier for ordinary users and helps prediction trading evolve toward a data-driven and strategy-oriented direction.

AI analysis and quick trading

Around the same time, Gate’s forecast market integrated AI analysis features and quick trading modes. Quick trading compresses the workflow into 1 to 2 steps, while the AI analysis feature helps users lower the information processing threshold. From search optimization and trending categories to AI analysis and quick trading, Gate is gradually lowering the barrier to participating in prediction markets while improving information efficiency and overall trading smoothness.

Practical Guide to Participate in Gate’s Forecast Market

For users new to prediction markets, Gate provides a clear path to participate.

For entry, the forecast market feature is currently available only on the Gate App (no web version support). Users must ensure the app is upgraded to v8.15 or above. From the bottom “Markets” → “Alpha Predictions” on the home page, users can enter. The Event Contracts feature also needs to be accessed through the app.

For trading mechanics, each prediction market is a future event with a binary outcome. Users can buy the YES or NO share. Each share’s price ranges between 0 and 1 USDT, representing the market’s collective estimate of the probability that the outcome will occur. When the event resolves correctly in the direction a user predicts, each share pays 1 USDT; if the judgment is wrong, the share value goes to zero. Users can also sell their positions early before settlement to lock in profits.

For funds, users use USDT from their spot account to participate in prediction trading, with no additional wallet steps or gas fees required.

Summary

In July 2026, Gate’s forecast market maintained a high-intensity update cadence on both the events and product fronts.

At the event level, Esports Trading Season (July 20 to August 10) offers a total 200k USDT in rewards, covering top esports events such as EWC, LPL, and LCK. New user first orders, weekly trading volume, and leaderboard incentives run in parallel; Global Finance Double Concerto (July 24 to August 28) provides a 200k USDT rewards pool in a dual-leaderboard format, combining stock trading with prediction markets; Event Contracts Launch Carnival (July 21 to July 31) matches a 50,000 USDT prize pool with a first-order loss compensation mechanism, lowering the barrier for users to try the new product.

At the product level, the continuous rollout of real-time big-move notifications, smart money tracking systems, and AI analysis tools is upgrading prediction markets—from tools for event participation into a data-driven professional trading environment.

From a macro industry perspective, quarterly trading volume in prediction markets has surpassed $100 billion. As the first centralized exchange to integrate Polymarket, Gate is building a multi-dimensional prediction trading ecosystem spanning sports, finance, and crypto through ongoing product iteration and incentive campaigns. For users interested in prediction markets, the current event window and tool matrix offered by Gate forms a complete cycle worth close observation and participation.

FAQ

Q1: What are the main ongoing activities in Gate’s forecast market?

Gate’s forecast market is currently promoting three major activities: Esports Trading Season (July 20 to August 10), total prize pool of 200,000 USDT; Global Finance Double Concerto (July 24 to August 28), total prize pool of 200,000 USDT; Event Contracts Launch Carnival (July 21 to July 31), total prize pool of 50,000 USDT.

Q2: How can I participate in Gate’s Esports Trading Season?

Users need to log in through the Gate App, go to the official event page to complete registration and identity verification, and then enter the Gate Polymarket esports section to conduct eligible prediction trades. Only trades made after successful registration will be counted toward weekly tasks and leaderboard rankings.

Q3: How are Event Contracts different from regular futures trading?

Event Contracts removes leverage, margin, and liquidation requirements. Users only need to predict the direction of BTC or ETH’s price within a specific time cycle (up or down). The maximum loss is limited to the amount paid. Contract prices range from 0.01 to 0.99 USDT, and the minimum trade amount is 1.5 USDT.

Q4: How do I use Gate’s real-time big-move notification feature?

This feature requires upgrading the Gate App to v8.27.0 or above. After the feature goes live, the system automatically monitors large buy and sell transactions in the prediction market and aggregates them into a unified “Big Moves” list. Users do not need to check each event individually to understand fund flows and changes in market sentiment.

Q5: How is the share price in a prediction market determined?

The price of each YES or NO share fluctuates between 0 and 1 USDT, determined by market supply and demand. This price reflects the collective estimate by market participants of the probability that an event outcome will occur—for example, a YES quote of 0.65 means the market believes the probability of that outcome occurring is about 65%.

Q6: What event categories does Gate’s forecast market support?

Through Polymarket integration, Gate’s forecast market covers multiple categories including crypto trends, financial markets, sports events (including esports), and global current affairs. Among them, sports and esports categories are especially significant in growth during 2026, with major events like the World Cup and EWC driving substantial trading volume and user participation.