Augur Betting Volumes Just Topped $1 Million

Prediction platform Augur is fast attracting fans, at least if new data is any indication.

Global, a website that allows users to view Augur markets without installing the app, show the platform saw a spike in "Open interest" from Sunday to Monday.

Still, while it's early days for that aim, the data makes clear Augur has enjoyed rapid growth in the sum of money users have put on the line, and that the number and variety of markets is increasing.

Global's data shows a steady rise in the number of prediction markets created by Augur users, to nearly 320 at the time of writing.

To be sure, money at stake is heavily concentrated in a small number of markets, and most have seen no betting activity at all.

While skeptics might worry that it's creating a financial incentive to spread viruses, Augur co-founder Joey Krug told CoinDesk that such applications of the platform are "Actually really interesting" and could provide "a lot of useful information."

While Augur the data above might give the impression that Augur is thriving, there's one important metric that's less encouraging.

According to DappRadar, the platform's daily userbase peaked at 265 the day it launched, briefly pushing Augur past CryptoKitties in rankings of the most popular dapps.

As these bugs have been fixed, Krug said, it is possible that users - even if there are fewer of them currently - have become more comfortable that Augur is reliable, so they've put more capital onto the platform.

The ultimate goal, said Krug, is for Augur to allow users "To create markets on essentially anything" without paying high fees to financial intermediaries.