MetaMask launched prediction markets this week through an exclusive partnership with Polymarket. But the integration is just one piece of a larger transformation.

Over the past two months, MetaMask has added perpetual futures trading powered by Hyperliquid, introduced trading on U.S. stocks including Nvidia and Tesla, launched a seasonal rewards program, and confirmed plans for a token. The wallet that once existed to sign transactions is positioning itself as an all-in-one trading platform.

The timing isn’t coincidental. Consensys, MetaMask’s parent company, is preparing for an IPO with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters, according to Axios. Every new feature—prediction markets, perps, stocks, rewards—adds a revenue line and boosts engagement metrics ahead of the roadshow.

The Polymarket integration lets traders browse and trade event contracts directly in the MetaMask mobile app. Funding is streamlined: traders can deposit with any token on any EVM-compatible chain, and MetaMask handles the conversion. There’s no separate KYC process.

“Using prediction markets on mobile today is painful,” MetaMask’s senior director of product Mike Lwin said. The timing is notable, but Polymarket has already launched a mobile app.

MetaMask charges a 4% fee on every trade, split between MetaMask and Polymarket. No fees apply to deposits, cashouts, or withdrawals. Users also earn 2 points per dollar traded through MetaMask’s rewards program, which ties into the company’s planned token launch.

Ajay Mittal, MetaMask’s VP of product strategy, said the company “benchmarked pricing extensively against both prediction markets and the broader sports-betting industry.” A flat fee, he argued, is “one of the clearest and most predictable structures for users.”

The 4% fee is the central question. Trading directly on Polymarket costs nothing beyond network fees. So who would want to pay a 4% premium?

People who don’t know they have a choice. MetaMask is counting on its 30 million users not realizing they can trade for free elsewhere.

Anyone with an existing Polymarket account has no reason to use MetaMask. The integration creates a separate account and the positions and history don’t transfer. You’d be paying 4% to start over.

“LOL you’re charging 4% fee on each prediction… you completely lost your mind,” one user replied in MetaMask’s announcement thread.

The only counterargument is the rewards program.

At 2 points per dollar traded, traders accumulate rewards tied to MetaMask’s planned token launch. But that’s not a benefit—it’s a speculation. Traders are betting that future token value will exceed the 4% they’re paying now. That’s a gamble on top of a gamble—or as one user put it, “Back in the days we had Red & Black + 0”

Back in the days we had Red & Black + 0
Now we got this…

MetaMask’s ambition extends beyond prediction markets. The wallet now offers perpetual futures on over 150 tokens plus U.S. equities, with leverage up to 40x. It has a rewards program designed to incentivize trading activity across all products. And it’s preparing a token that will likely tie these elements together.

The strategy mirrors what Binance and Coinbase have done with centralized platforms: bundle as many financial products as possible to capture user attention and trading fees. MetaMask is attempting the same playbook with a non-custodial wallet, betting that self-custody and mobile convenience can compete with centralized exchanges.

“Consensys has quietly been positioning itself for public markets all year, trimming costs, tightening operations, and expanding MetaMask beyond a simple Ethereum wallet into a full financial platform,” Decrypt noted in October. “Consensys is about to position itself as crypto’s consumer super app to investors.”

For Consensys, the pitch to public market investors becomes clearer. MetaMask isn’t just infrastructure—it’s a trading platform with 30 million monthly active users, multiple revenue streams, and a product roadmap that keeps traders inside the app.

Polymarket doesn’t need MetaMask for volume. The weekly notional volume is hitting 1.1B. It’s seeking additional funding at a valuation between $12 billion and $15 billion.

But the partnership offers low-effort distribution to crypto-native users with 2% upside. MetaMask’s audience already has wallets, understands on-chain trading, and doesn’t need education. If even a small percentage converts to active traders, Polymarket gains users it didn’t have to acquire.

The deal also fits Polymarket’s broader distribution strategy. It has signed partnerships with the UFC, the NHL, PrizePicks, Yahoo Finance, and Google.

MetaMask’s Polymarket integration is a convenience product, not a cost-saving one. Whether that’s worth it depends on how much you value your time, how often you trade, and how much faith you place in MetaMask’s future token.

For MetaMask and Consensys, the calculus is simpler. Every feature that keeps users inside the app strengthens the IPO narrative. Prediction markets are just the latest addition to a wallet that increasingly looks like a trading platform.

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