Magic Eden co-founder sees ‘speculation supercycle’ ahead

Magic Eden CEO and co-founder Jack Lu says his company will be well-positioned for the “supercycle” where “finance merges with entertainment” amid a recent boom in prediction markets and betting.

“Speculation is mainstream now. And Magic Eden is building for this world,” Lu posted to X on Monday.

“Prediction markets are all over Emmys and the news. Betting is the second fastest growing industry in the US after AI. Sportsbook sponsorships are all over everyone’s favorite sports broadcasts. Hyper casual games + real-money gaming are converging.”

Lu’s remarks come as prediction markets’ trading volumes reached a record $814.2 million on Monday, smashing the previous record of $701.7 million last Monday, Dune Analytics data shows.

Daily trading volume on prediction markets since September 2024. Source: Dune Analytics

Kalshi continues to lead trading volumes across politics, finance, sport, and entertainment markets, while Polymarket and Opinion are also performing strongly.

Magic Eden to capitalize on speculation

In the same post, Lu confirmed that its new crypto casino and sportsbook platform Dicey will launch this quarter. The platform incentivizes users to host games, place wagers, and engage with friends in a decentralized environment.

Earlier on Monday, Magic Eden said tokenholders will also get a cut of any new initiatives.

A total of 15% of all Magic Eden revenue flow will go back to Magic Eden (ME) token holders, the company said.

This revenue will be split equally between ME buybacks and staking rewards, paid out in the USDC (USDC) stablecoin.

Revenue earned from staking will be based on how much ME is staked and for how long, with USDC rewards claimable monthly starting from March.

Source: Magic Eden

NFT industry struggles to bounce back

The announcements come after the NFT market cap fell 68% from $7.95 billion to $2.5 billion in 2025, CoinGecko data shows.

Organizers of the NFT Paris conference said the market pullback contributed to their canceling the event this year.

“Despite drastic cost cuts and months of trying to make it work, we couldn’t pull it off this year.”

Related: Animoca buys Somo as NFT market rebounds early in 2026

Even with the industry’s struggles, Lu said that Magic Eden maintained a “healthy marketplace business,” bringing in roughly $24 million in revenue over the year.

The NFT market has started strongly in 2026, with the NFT market cap back over $3 billion, a 28% increase over the first 20 days.

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