Hedgehog Markets

Hedgehog Markets is a decentralized prediction market protocol built on Solana and Eclipse SVM. Launched on Solana mainnet in September 2021, it was among the first prediction market platforms to go live on the network. Since then it has broadened its market formats from an original no-loss competition model to peer-to-peer escrow markets and parimutuel pooled markets, and expanded chain coverage to Eclipse SVM in October 2024.

The Original No-Loss Model

Hedgehog debuted with a distinctive no-loss mechanism: users deposited assets into prediction competitions and those assets continued earning yield throughout the competition period. Prize pools were funded from the accrued yield rather than from losing participants' principal — meaning depositors could not lose their underlying capital, only compete for upside. The launch tagline "if you lose, you win" captured the appeal, and the mainnet debut was seeded with over $100,000 in prizes to drive adoption. The closed beta ahead of mainnet attracted more than 6,000 registrations.

This model drew on the DeFi no-loss pattern — comparable in spirit to PoolTogether's prize savings protocol — but applied it specifically to outcome prediction rather than random lotteries. Hedgie Hogs NFTs were later introduced as companion assets that could be used to participate in dedicated market competitions, adding a community-collectible layer to the core prediction mechanic.

Peer-to-Peer and Pooled Markets

By mid-2022, Hedgehog introduced peer-to-peer markets, enabling any user to create a custom prediction market against a counterparty at self-selected odds and with a self-set expiration time. The P2P escrow mechanism — documented in the open-source hedgehog-escrow repository — handles on-chain fund locking and outcome-triggered settlement without any intermediary. This shift moved the platform away from curated operator-run competitions toward fully permissionless market creation.

Pooled markets operate on a parimutuel-style model: users deposit into the outcome pool of their choice, and odds shift dynamically as the pool composition changes, reflecting aggregate market belief in real time. This format is the primary structure for the Eclipse deployment.

Eclipse SVM Expansion

On October 3, 2024, Hedgehog launched on Eclipse SVM — a network that runs Solana's Virtual Machine (SVM) while settling to Ethereum — bringing its protocol to a new user base. The Eclipse deployment introduced parlay markets, where users bundle multiple outcome predictions into a single transaction within a peer-to-pool model. Participants compete for a share of the collective pool based on overall prediction accuracy rather than requiring every individual leg to win outright.

The launch featured NFL parlay markets and sports pooled markets as inaugural offerings. Because Eclipse uses ETH as its base asset and users bridge from Ethereum mainnet, the Hedgehog deployment on Eclipse is accessible to Ethereum-native participants without requiring SOL holdings, extending the potential audience beyond the Solana ecosystem.

Technical Architecture

Hedgehog's on-chain programs are written in Rust using the Anchor framework and Solana Program Library. Oracle-based outcome verification uses Switchboard V2 data feeds. Client-facing SDKs are distributed in TypeScript via the hedgehog-program-library repository. The Eclipse-specific parimutuel implementation lives in the hpl-parimutuel-eclipse repository, which was last updated in December 2024 according to GitHub, indicating active protocol development. The project also maintains DeFiLlama adapter integrations for on-chain metrics tracking.

Smart contracts are open source across the GitHub organization, which hosts 14 repositories covering escrow logic, program libraries, oracle infrastructure, and utility tooling for Solana integration.

Team and Investors

Hedgehog was founded by George Yu, a former software engineer at Google and Oscar Health. The project was built in partnership with e^i Ventures, a DeFi-focused venture studio. In July 2021 the project closed a $3.5 million seed round with participation from Reciprocal Ventures, Republic Labs, Alameda Research, Divergence Ventures, MGNR, and Manna. The Solana Foundation also provided a grant. No governance or project token has been issued.

Why Solana

Prediction market mechanics are sensitive to execution costs and settlement speed. Parimutuel odds need to update continuously as pool balances shift; P2P markets with small bet sizes become uneconomical on expensive networks; and frequent market creation and settlement requires near-zero latency. Solana's sub-second finality and sub-cent transaction fees make all three formats viable for retail-scale participation. The Eclipse deployment preserves this execution environment — Eclipse runs the Solana VM — while drawing on Ethereum liquidity and user familiarity.

Current Status

As of mid-2026, the Hedgehog Markets website is live and returning 100% uptime per independent monitoring. The GitHub organization shows protocol activity through December 2024. Social media output has been limited — the last recorded X post was April 30, 2025 — suggesting the team has shifted to a build-first posture. The platform supports markets across crypto, politics, sports, technology, and a general open category on both the Solana and Eclipse deployments. No audit disclosures were found in public sources, and no project token is listed.