Polygon Flips Ethereum in Daily Fees as Polymarket Oscar Betting Hits $15M

Polygon just pulled off something no one saw coming. It flipped Ethereum in daily transaction fees. For the first time ever.

On Friday alone, Polygon brought in about $407,100 in fees. Ethereum? Around $211,700. That is almost double.

Activity on Polymarket has exploded, and prediction markets are suddenly turning into serious revenue engines.

What Is Driving the Fee Flip?

The reason is simple, Polymarket. Oscars pulled in serious retail flow, with more than $15 million wagered on a single category over the weekend.

Polygon did not climb the fee charts by accident. Almost all of the recent growth came from Polymarket activity, which generated over $1 million in network fees in just a week.

Compared to Polymarket, the next biggest app on Polygon barely made a dent.

Polygon vs Ethereum: The Numbers Behind the Shift

Over the weekend, Polygon briefly pulled ahead in daily fees before the gap tightened again, with both chains trading blows within a narrow range.

Polygon just hit an all-time high in daily USDC transactions

And it's not even close.
🔹 12M+ daily USDC txs on Polygon
🔹 Every other chain? Below 3M
🔹 Base, Arbitrum, Ethereum Mainnet barely register pic.twitter.com/SVlf5ci2xm

— Leon Waidmann (@LeonWaidmann) February 17, 2026

The reason is practical. Cost. Polygon transactions average around $0.0026. On Ethereum, you are looking at roughly $1.68. If you are placing multiple small bets or making quick moves, that difference matters. A lot.

Lower fees mean more volume. More volume means more revenue. It is that simple.

At the same time, Ethereum is dealing with its own narrative pressure after large whale movements added volatility concerns. So while Ethereum remains dominant structurally, Polygon is proving that consumer driven activity can shift revenue flows quickly.