Polymarket Debuts 5-Minute Bitcoin Prediction Markets With Instant Settlement


#Polymarket rolled out ultra-short prediction markets on Thursday that allow participants to wager on $BTC price direction over five-minute windows. The new offering marks the platform's expansion into high-frequency trading tools, with Bitcoin currently the only supported asset.


Each market covers a discrete five-minute period where users select either "up" or "down" outcomes. An "up" result occurs when #Bitcoin's price at the interval end meets or exceeds the starting price. Participants purchase positions as shares priced between 0 and 1 #USDC, with pricing reflecting implied probability.


Settlement relies on automated BTC/USD price data from Chainlink's high-frequency oracle infrastructure. The system continuously monitors Bitcoin prices and determines winning positions based on price comparison at each interval's start and finish.


This automated approach replaces manual resolution methods previously used in prediction markets, enabling immediate settlement and eliminating human error risks. The infrastructure supports algorithmic participation and bot-driven strategies built for rapid settlement cycles.


The platform processed more than $9 billion in total volume across various #prediction markets during 2024. Polymarket cited this existing liquidity base as evidence of the capacity to support high-frequency short-duration markets.


Prior 15-minute crypto market launches using Chainlink price feeds established the technical foundation for compressing timeframes to five minutes while maintaining automated #verification. The rollout coincides with Bitcoin consolidating near $65,000 amid uncertainty about the near-term price trajectory.

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February 13, 2026 at 12:51 AM
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