Olas shifts prediction-market functionality to self-custodial desktop app following Chrome extension ban.
Tech & Launches ·
Olas, a blockchain project offering AI agents through an app-store interface, is sunsetting Pearl Mini, its browser-based prediction-market tool, following Google's expansion of its Chrome Web Store policy on July 1 to prohibit extensions enabling real-money transactions on predictive outcomes. Enforcement begins August 1, making continued development of the extension impossible since Pearl Mini's core function was to display Polymarket markets, generate AI-likelihood scores, and execute trades in a single action.
The move underscores the dependence of decentralized AI projects on centralized platforms for user access. Despite Pearl Mini's self-custodial design—the tool never held user private keys—a single policy change at a gatekeeper platform rendered the product inoperable. Olas confirmed user funds faced no risk and provided a window through the end of July for users to export keys and withdraw assets.
Development of prediction-market functionality continues on Pearl, a self-custodial desktop application operating outside the Chrome Web Store ecosystem. The exact timeline and feature parity between the sunsetted extension and its desktop successor remain unclear.