Easy profit opportunities that retail traders once enjoyed on prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi are rapidly shrinking as institutions, market makers, quant managers, funded trading firms and AI agents enter the space. The immediate battleground is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy rate decision, where most outcomes are priced in, leaving a narrow range to trade. Experiments also show AI models have not yet delivered stable returns.

The U.S. cryptocurrency industry employs about 34,000 people directly but is expected to contribute $55 billion to the U.S. economy in 2026, an analysis found. A report by the National Cryptocurrency Association and Pragmatic Policy Group put total supported jobs, including indirect and induced employment, at 232,000. It said average crypto pay is $133,000, above U.S. median wages. California, New York and Texas account for 60 percent of crypto jobs.