The non-custodial protocol uses Chainlink oracles for automatic CASH settlement and enters a fast-growing market dominated by Polymarket and Kalshi.
World debuted on July 1 as an onchain prediction market on Solana, launching inside Phantom Wallet and using Chainlink oracles to settle trades automatically in the CASH stablecoin. The protocol is structured as non-custodial, meaning it routes orders to Solana liquidity providers instead of holding customer funds or operating markets like a traditional exchange, while traders keep positions in their own wallets as tokens until they redeem. At launch, World offers short-duration Bitcoin up-or-down contracts and markets tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with plans to add sports, politics and macro markets through July. The rollout comes as Solana gains momentum, with SOL rising more than 5% on the day and about 16% over the week, according to BeInCrypto data. The launch also formalizes infrastructure that had already been running quietly for weeks. Phantom had offered Kalshi-powered markets through a DFlow integration from December 2025, then switched to World for all positions opened on or after June 1. Under the previous setup, users had to redeem winning positions manually, while World automates settlement once an event ends. That transition gives World immediate reach through Phantom’s roughly 20 million users, although its market depth remains untested because it has not published volume or liquidity figures. The broader competitive backdrop is intense: Polymarket demonstrated the sector’s scale in 2024 when more than $3 billion traded on its US presidential market, while Kalshi remains a major rival and is reportedly considering a $40 billion valuation. Sector momentum is also strong, with prediction market open interest (total active positions) reaching a record $1.48 billion in June. World is taking a different regulatory route from the incumbents. Kalshi operates as a CFTC (U.S. derivatives regulator)-regulated exchange and won a court fight in 2024 to list election contracts, while Polymarket paid a $1.4 million CFTC penalty in 2022 that pushed it offshore for years. World instead runs as a permissionless onchain protocol with no license and no gatekeeper, a structure that removes intermediaries but also lacks the protections associated with a regulated venue. The team said an unaffiliated memecoin using the World name on Pump.fun has no connection to the project. Its early case rests on Phantom distribution and instant onchain settlement rather than proven trading scale, with the World Cup likely to be the first major test of whether embedded access can convert into durable liquidity.