2. Polymarket Takes Victory Lap

While opinion polls canvassing the opinions of American voters indicated that this race was a coin toss, crypto-powered prediction markets told a different story.

As polling places began to open at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Polymarket showed a 61.7% chance that Trump would secure a second term.

Those odds improved dramatically as results started to trickle in. And as midnight approached, he was given a 95% chance of hitting that magical number of 270 Electoral College votes.

A staggering $3.6 billion was wagered on the presidential election, and countless millions more on the outcomes in battleground states.

However, those who backed Trump may face a little wait before they get a payout, as the market will only be resolved when the AP news agency, Fox, and NBC all call the result.

Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan is clearly vindicated by how his platform performed. It’s a sign that bettors putting their money where their mouths are offer a more accurate picture of future events than statisticians with clipboards.