Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin just shared a new blog post about prediction markets, their role in the digital sphere and the opportunities of human collaboration they introduce. The emerging frontier of "info finance" paves the path for fair, democratic and inclusive participation for various actors. Also, it can employ eccentric artificial intelligence (AI) concepts, Buterin suggests.

Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin reflects on PMs, coins term "info finance": What to know

While already being a very useful tool for the world, on-chain prediction markets showcase potential as part of a much larger, incredibly powerful category that could be labelled as "info finance." Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin observes its applications in a new essay, "From prediction markets to info finance," shared on his personal blog.

Observing the success of Polymarket, a Polygon-based on-chain PM app, Buterin noticed that the platforms of this type exist both as advanced betting instruments and news websites. In some cases, their statistics might be even more informative and unbiased than those of digital media outlets:

You can be more informed by reading the news and the charts, than by reading either one alone (...) If you are a bettor, then you can deposit to Polymarket, and for you it's a betting site. If you are not a bettor, then you can read the charts, and for you it's a news site

This dualism lays the background for the concept of using finances as a way to align incentives in order to provide viewers with valuable information.

In other words, "info finance" could be an umbrella term for solutions that allow authors to back their statements with money stakes (just like with classic PMs) and readers interested in such "backed" statements.

As both parts are interested in correct information (publishers want to benefit from sharing it, while readers want to filter it out of noise), using crypto transactions might be a powerful instrument necessary to reach the equilibrium.

As covered by U.Today previously, Polymarket's triumph is what the last U.S. presidential elections will be remembered for in the crypto world.

The entire world was watching the dynamics of election statistics on Polymarket instead of news websites. The platform's charts were free from ads and political biases, therefore, being treated as the most up-to-date and reliable data sources.

Info finance unlocks more opportunities for AI usage

Polymarket's CEO even shared a rumor that election headquarters of U.S. presidential candidates used Polymarket to know who was winning in this or that moment. Despite huge traffic, both Polymarket and its blockchain Polygon (POL) managed to stay online all the time.

Vitalik Buterin admitted that the vast majority of "info finance" markets will be associated with microtransactions and data streams. To process this complexity, using AI and LLMs in particular will be essential:

One technology that I expect will turbocharge info finance in the next decade is AI

Such designs will be useful in a number of applications, including the likes of DAO management, personal tokens, advertising, peer reviews of scientific papers and public goods funding.

"Info finance" might evolve into a framework for "distilled human judgement mechanisms" based on decentralized networks.