After quietly developing in stealth mode, Zeitgeist has finally made itself known, closing a $1.5 million seed round to create the first decentralized prediction market on the Kusama and Polkadot networks.
Zeitgeist has been in development for several months, and now, with backing by some of the biggest investors in the Blockchain startup space, such as D1 Ventures, the co-founders of Acala, and a prominent member of the Web3 Foundation, it’s ready to take the defi prediction market sector by storm.
What Are Prediction Markets?
Prediction markets allow anyone to speculate on the likelihood of the outcome of a future event.
By harnessing the collective knowledge of the crowd, these highly speculative marketplaces can channel and analyze the informational inputs to determine the likeliest outcome of a certain event.
For example, investors can monetarily back their believed outcome of a future event by purchasing a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ contract that rewards them for making the correction prediction.
When comparing this method to traditional data gathering alternatives, such as polls, focus groups, or surveys, prediction markets have shown to produce estimates that are as good or better than any of these options.
Zeitgeist Evolves Decentralized Prediction Markets
Current prediction markets on networks like Ethereum face severe drawbacks, such as unsustainably high transaction fees and slow transaction times, limiting their usability.
Zeitgeist will be introducing a fast, cheap, easy-to-use, and intuitive platform that integrates all the core functionalities of prediction markets in a more efficient manner.
Zeitgeist isn’t stopping there, though, as they have integrated prediction market data to innovate within the field of decentralized on-chain governance.
Zeitgeist is introducing a new governance mechanism, known as Futarchy, meant to create the optimum governing atmosphere for its platforms.
Instead of relying solely on network validators, Futarchy utilizes the decision-making signals aggregated from the data on the platform to help make better determinations on the direction of the platform.
Using collective knowledge and decentralized validation, Zeitgeist introduces a novel governance mechanism that may redefine how platforms control their networks moving forward.
When asked about the implementation of Futarchy governance, Tamara Frankel, a founding partner of D1 Ventures, commented, “The concept of Futarchy goes hand in hand with the ethos and on-chain governance capabilities of the Kusama ecosystem. I’m an avid user of prediction markets on Ethereum, and it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities within the Kusama and greater Polkadot ecosystems.”
Kusama and Polkadot Allow for New Opportunities
As a fresh project launching within the Kusama and Polkadot networks, Zeitgeist has the potential to evolve into an interoperable cross-chain prediction market hub that serves all.
Previous decentralized prediction markets have thrived, even with their inherent problems, opening up a door for Zeitgeist to become a leader within the industry.
Zeitgeist will be able to operate across all Polkadot and Kusama parachains, as well as accept assets of other parachains such as kUSD or aUSD.
By utilizing the knowledge that the prediction market generates to perform optimal governance over the network, Zeitgeist has the opportunity to fundamentally change the way decentralized projects operate.
