Overview
Minute Markets is a short-cycle prediction market that lets people predict whether the price of an asset like oil or bitcoin will move up or down across a five-minute round1. Each round is open to anyone with a connected wallet, and payouts settle automatically once the oracle records the closing price. The protocol is aimed at people who want fast, low-friction directional positions rather than long-term trades.
Built on Cardano by Metera Protocol, the same team behind a tokenized index product, Minute Markets uses on-chain settlement so the contract pays out winners using the rules and oracle prices published in the docs — not the operator's discretion2. Metera Protocol states its smart contracts have been audited, though no public audit report for Minute Markets is linked from the project site3. The live app offers two ways to play: a manual interface where users pick a side per round, and an automated strategies surface where users delegate to rule-based bots that play rounds on their behalf.
Key Features
- Five-minute rounds. Each market runs as a short cycle: about five minutes to take an up or down position, then about five minutes of locked settlement before the round closes4. Rounds run back-to-back with no downtime.
- Oracle-set lock and close prices. A price oracle posts the lock price at the start and the close price at the end. If the close price is higher than the lock, up wins; if lower, down wins; if the two match, the pool goes to the protocol4.
- On-chain settlement on Cardano. Funds and outcomes are recorded by Cardano smart contracts rather than held in a custodial account, so payouts follow the published rules2.
- Manual and automated play. The main app lets users place positions by hand. The strategies dashboard lets users configure rule-based bots that enter rounds automatically while they are away.
- Built by a known operator team. Metera Protocol publishes a named team and parent product, which gives the protocol more accountability than an anonymous launch3. The operator publishes its open-source work, including an oracle client, under its GitHub organization, though there is no dedicated public repository for Minute Markets itself5.
What to Expect
A typical visitor lands on a dashboard showing the current round, the next round, and a list of finished rounds with their move sizes. Connecting a Cardano wallet enables placing a position by choosing a side and a stake. The interface also shows pool sizes per side and a payout multiplier that updates as the round fills, so people can see the implied odds before committing.
Because each round runs as a pari-mutuel pool, winning multipliers depend on how the room is split: a one-sided book means a smaller payout for the winning side, while an even split means a larger one. The strategies area, leaderboard, and a separate dashboard for the oil market round out the experience, and the team posts product updates and round results on the Minute Markets X account. For broader context on similar prediction and betting protocols on Cardano, browse adastack's prediction-betting category.
