Polygon’s Daily Fees Exceed Ethereum’s as Prediction Markets Gain Momentum

Polygon achieved a pivotal milestone by surpassing Ethereum (ETH) in daily transaction fees for the very first time. This was driven by the surge in activity on Polymarket, the leading decentralized prediction market hosted on the Polygon Network.

Summary

• Polygon generated $407,100 in daily fees, surpassing Ethereum’s $211,700 for the first time.
• The key catalyst was a massive surge in activity on Polymarket, where $15 million was wagered on a single Oscar betting category.
• The platform generated over $1 million in fees on Polygon within seven days.

What is Polygon?

Polygon is a Layer-2 scaling solution designed to make Ethereum faster and cheaper. It acts as a parallel, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that connects to Ethereum, enabling high-speed transactions with near-zero fees.
Polygon is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), making it easy for developers to migrate dApps. It was launched in 2017, and Polygon has grown into a multi-chain framework that provides various scaling solutions.

Reason why Polygon Surpassed Ethereum?

The key reason Polygon’s daily transaction fee exceeded Ethereum’s is the massive surge in activity recorded on Polymarket. Oscars saw high-volume retail interest wagered over $15 million on a single market category, significantly increasing network traffic.

Polygon’s new records came from Polymarket’s activities, which generated over $1 million in network fees in just a week.

In an X post on Monday, Matthias Seidl, the co-founder of Ethereum analytics platform growthepie, commented on Polygon’s recent activity growth, stating that it has been “fully driven by Polymarket.”

Seidle also shared a chart showing that Polymarket had accounted for just over $1 million worth of fees on Polygon over the past seven days. The next highest app on the L2 is Origin World, which generated around $130,000.

Polygon vs Ethereum: Performance Highlights

On Friday, 13 February 2026, Polygon’s daily transaction fees reached $407,100, nearly doubling Ethereum’s $211,7000. On February 14, Polygon recorded $303,000 in fees, and Ethereum gained $285,000.

The key reason is transaction cost. Polygon’s average fee remains under $0.01 and $0.0026 during the surge. On the other hand, Ethereum has dropped, ranging from $0.14-$0.20. However, it remains higher than other L2 alternatives.

Lower fees have attracted more traders, and Polygon makes more revenue. Moreover, Ethereum is facing immense pressure from large whale activity, which causes volatility.

Conclusion

Polygon’s new milestone comes when Ethereum remains a dominant settlement layer for large-value security. Prediction markets have gained popularity since the last US election. Several crypto firms have launched their own prediction markets since their wide adoption.

Polygon has now emerged as a leading venue for consumer-driven transactions. Many analysts view this fee flip as a sign of consumer demand for Layer-2 networks with lower transaction costs. It also suggests that consumers have begun to challenge the traditional economic dominance of the Ethereum mainnet.

Additionally, Polygon reached a new weekly high of 28 million USDC transactions, mainly due to its use as the primary trading currency on Polymarket.