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Blockchain Sports Betting Exchange Competitive Analysis
Key Takeaways
- According to the company, Divvy is different from other players because it is "fair, transparent, non-custodial, trustworthy, and efficient." Divvy is governed by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that allows "anyone to provide liquidity to the House and staking the House tokens to mine $DVY."
- According to the Hedgehog website, "orders are executed via smart contracts, allowing users to transact directly from their wallets into market pools without relinquishing custody of their funds. All transactions are recorded in a public ledger and users can access this information at any time. Built on the Solana blockchain, the Hedgehog platform has lightning-fast transaction speeds and near-zero network fees."
Introduction
We have provided a competitive analysis of the following crypto-based sports betting exchanges: Divvy, Hedgehog, Foresight, Augur, Degens, SportX, Fairlay, Betswap.gg, Wager, and BetDEX. We have also provided some news items, articles, interviews, media coverage, and industry reports on the crypto-based/blockchain sports betting exchange space in the last 12-24 months.
Divvy
- Divvy is a blockchain-based sports betting exchange whose mission is to bring decentralized finance (DeFi) to the gambling and sports betting space to redefine the way people place bets and create a completely decentralized protocol.
- Divvy's tagline is "be the house," and it encourages users to "deposit USDT into the House pool in return for House Tokens that represent their share of the pool as well as its profits."
- According to the company, Divvy is different from other players because it is "fair, transparent, non-custodial, trustworthy, and efficient." Divvy is governed by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that allows "anyone to provide liquidity to the House and staking the House tokens to mine $DVY."
- The Divvy ecosystem uses the $DVY token as its native governance token, and it represents voting rights in the DAO.
- Divvy was first announced in June 2021 and was open to users in October 2021. Divvy was awarded the Solana Foundation Grant in August 2021, and according to its website, it is "coming soon on Solana."
Hedgehog
- Hedgehog Markets is a "decentralized prediction markets platform built on the Solana blockchain."
- Hedgehog's platform allows users to "predict the future in a decentralized environment." This means that DPMs operate on "blockchain technology and function peer-to-peer with no central intermediary."
- According to the Hedgehog website, "orders are executed via smart contracts, allowing users to transact directly from their wallets into market pools without relinquishing custody of their funds. All transactions are recorded in a public ledger and users can access this information at any time. Built on the Solana blockchain, the Hedgehog platform has lightning-fast transaction speeds and near-zero network fees."
- Currently, Hedgehog's focus is user growth and platform building. The exchange has progressive decentralization as its long-term strategy, and they're waiting on proper Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DOA) tooling.
- Hedgehog is currently free for all users since they are focused on growing a user base first. Hedgehog Markers offers No-Loss Competitions to "enable users to participate in prediction markets without risking their capital."
- Hedgehog Markets was founded by George Yu, a former Google and Oscar Health engineer.
- In July 2021, the platform received $3.5 million in seed funding from investors, including "Reciprocal Ventures, Republic Labs, Alameda Research, Divergence Ventures, MGNR, and Manna." The funding will expand product features, increase the user base, and scale the platform.
Foresight
- Foresight is a decentralized prediction platform that lives on Solana and allows users to "profit by correctly predicting outcomes of world events." Foresight's mission is to create a decentralized prediction platform that is intuitive and innovative, and the best in the market.
- Foresight is completely decentralized, has zero transaction fees, and zero fees to create or redeem shares. Foresight aims to become a platform where users can create and handle their own interesting and local markets, which may include markets from their inner circle and even predicting the outcome of local events.
- Like other decentralized prediction markets, Foresight is run by the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and allows members to vote to list and resolve markets.
- Below are some of the things the platform developers are currently working on:
- "Designing a governance system to resolve markets quickly and correctly."
- "Planning an IDO next year."
- "Adding more products and features that are all on the blockchain."
- "Building a community of people interested in researching and discussing world events."
- "Creating a DAO where contributors will get paid in SEER to operate and improve Foresight."
- "Making cute Teddy Seers (teddy bears) on the blockchain where participants who make predictions or contribute will be given awards. Those awards are correlated with digital assets to dress your very own Teddy Seer!"
- The platform is special and unique because they have zero transaction fees, are open source, and offer more cool features such as allowing people to list their own questions, and rewards and incentives to contributors.
Augur
- Augur is a blockchain betting exchange that allows users to bet on sports, economic, politics, and other world events. According to a whitepaper, Augur is "a trustless, decentralized oracle and prediction market platform" where "trust requirements, friction, and fees will be as low as competitive market forces can drive them."
- Augur claims to be the most accessible, no-limit betting exchange in the world.
- The betting exchange was formed in 2014 by Jack Peterson and Joey Krug and has received a total of $5.3 million in funding.
Degens
- Degens was formed in 2017 as a "peer to peer sports betting exchange utilizing ethereum smart contracts with bets made in DAI and ETH."
- According to Degens, they offer the following benefits:
- Lowest fees in the industry.
- The platform provides anonymity with no need for users to sign up.
- Unstoppable winning.
- "Cryptocurrency: Degens utilizes ETH as well as DAI, which is the leading stablecoin on the ethereum blockchain."
- Instant deposits/withdrawals.
SportX
- SportX is a peer-to-peer betting exchange on the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to bet against each other on sporting and political events.
- The platform describes itself as "the future of sports betting." It aims to popularize cryptocurrency and smart contract-based protocols. According to SportX, the platform leverages the power of community ownership and decentralized finance to create a transparent betting platform that is operated, owned, and governed by bettors.
- SportX claims to have "industry-low fees, fun tournaments, and unique non-custodial exchange technology" to enable users to set their own odds and confidently trade against each other.
- The SportX beta version was "launched in March 2019 by a passionate founding team of sports bettors with deep expertise in technology, trading, and security." SportX was founded by Andrew Young, Jake Hannah, and Julian Wilson.
- SportX has a valuation of $25 million and has received $2.75 million in funding over two funding rounds.
Fairlay
- Fairlay is a crypto-based betting exchange that allows users to bet on "live sports, eSports, horse racing, news, and politics."Fairlay was "founded in 2013 in London by the founders of Gnosis," and the company moved to Costa Rica in 2017.
- According to the company's LinkedIn profile, "Fairlay seeks to crowd-source information by providing a totally open prediction market. Functioning more like a conditional betting exchange, Fairlay not only allows users to bet but to see public confidence on various bitcoin and altcoin related events, as well as sports, and general news."
- Fairlay has the following competitive advantages:
- An industry-low commission of 0.05% to 0.25%.
- A peer-to-peer betting exchange that allows users to bet against other users and get better value, better control, and lower margins.
- Strong market markers: the platform provides its users with the liquidity they need to get the most competitive odds in the industry.
- According to their site, the platform has handled 944 BTC in the last 30 days and 11,760 BTC in the last one year.
Betswap.gg
- Betswapp.gg is a decentralized betting marketplace that allows peer-to-peer betting.
- Betswap offers its users anonymity with no sign up needed before they start betting. The platform is truly decentralized since it is "powered by the Ethereum layer 2 Polygon. The platform utilizes a governance token that gives its users voting powers to shape the future of the platform. No centralized organization OR regulatory body to interfere."
- Betswap is available globally, and they consider themselves a social blockchain exchange where users can raise the stakes and have a little more fun. Users of the betting exchange can be bettors or bookmakers. The platform makes betting exciting and encourages flexibility by letting users set the odds themselves.
- Other features offered by the betting exchange include order book, back book, and lay betting. Brent Winston is a Co-Founder and CEO of BetSwap Limited.
- Betswap is currently on its IEO/IDO sale phase of project development. The company has received $18.3 million in funding from one funding round by Wonderland.
Wagerr
- Wagerr is a "permissionless blockchain-based sportsbook secured by a global decentralized network" that allows its users to bet from anywhere. The platform claims to be privacy-focused and offers the best odds.
- Wagerr describes itself as "The World's First Private Betting App."
- As per its website, Wagerr solves the following biggest issues in sports betting:
- Transparency with security.
- Wagerr winners win more.
- Guaranteed Payment and Unlimited Liquidity.
- Privacy is controlled by users.
- Wagerr has received funding over one round (Initial Coin Offering) from Cardinal Capital.
- Wagerr was founded in 2016 by David Mah, its current CEO. So far, the betting exchange has paid out $42,358,112.96 in winnings.
BetDEX
- BetDEX's mission is to "build the global decentralized sports betting protocol." BetDEX is built on the Solana blockchain to "deliver high speeds and low transaction costs while eliminating counterparty risk. In addition, BetDEX is a permissionless protocol allowing anyone to build their own applications on top."
- The company's founders are Varun Sudhakar, Nigel Eccles, and Stuart Tonner. The company is "built by many of the founders and early employees that built the multi-billion dollar sports gaming company FanDuel."
- The company plans to launch its beta version in early 2022.
- The company has raised $21 million from Paradigm, Alameda Research, Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, Sino Global Capital, Lightspeed, Everblue Management LLC, and Solana.
Recent Press
1. The Next Frontier For US Sports Betting Is Crypto And Blockchain Technology
- Summary: This Forbes article explores the continued penetration of blockchain betting exchanges in the US, with Wyoming being the latest state to accept regulated sports betting.
- Crypto-based betting exchange mentioned: None.
2. How Blockchain Betting Technology Is Bringing The Power Back To The Bettors
- Summary: How blockchain is disrupting the sports betting industry dominated by large online sports betting companies. Blockchain technology is democratizing the space by bringing power back to the bettors and could lead "to an entire betting universe where self-regulated organizations are operated autonomously, independently, and democratically on the open blockchain is here to challenge the status quo of the large betting organizations."
- Exchanges mentioned: BetSwap.gg.
3. How Blockchain Can Provide a Crucial Solution to the Sports Betting Transparency Problem
- Summary: This article on Crypto News explores the critical role blockchain technology can play in solving the transparency problem in the sports betting industry.
- Exchanges mentioned: Betswap.
4. Decentralized Sports Betting Can Be a Lucrative Hobby
- Summary: This article presents the idea of decentralized betting as a hobby.
- Exchanges mentioned: Betswap.
5. Wild PlayUp Case Shows Blockchain-Gambling Convergence on Horizon
- Summary: Wild PlayUp, a sports betting company, filed a restraining order on its former CEO for sabotaging the company's $450 million sale. The article discusses blockchain and gambling convergence as a future aspect of the betting industry.
6. Former FanDuel Executives Raise $21 Million Seed Round For Nascent Sports Betting Exchange
- This Forbes article reports that former FanDuel founders and executives had raised $21 million for BetDEX, a nascent sports betting exchange.
- Exchanges mentioned: BetDEX.
7. The First Decentralized Betting Exchange
- This article from News BTC discusses Betswap as the first decentralized betting exchange.
- Exchanges mentioned: Betswap.
8. Exodus wallet integrates with SportX to enable esports betting with crypto
- Summary: Exodus Wallet, a cryptocurrency wallet, announced a partnership with SportX, a crypto-based betting exchange that "gives Exodus’ more than 1 million users access to SportX’s decentralized betting exchange where they can place bets on a wide range of sports and esports games using cryptocurrency."
- Exchanges mentioned: SportX.
9. How CHPZ Token is Powering Decentralized Sport Betting
- Summary: This article discusses the Chipz platform as an entrant to the crypto-based sports betting space powered by its own CHPZ token, giving users the power to be either bookmakers or bidders.
- Exchanges mentioned: Chipz.
10. Solana-Based Prediction Market Uses DeFi Yields to Finance ‘No Loss’ Betting
- Summary: This article discusses how Hedgehog DeFi Yields to Finance ‘No Loss’ Betting.
- Exchange mentioned: Hedgehog.
11. There’s a New Leader in the Sports Gaming World
- Summary: This piece explores Betswap as a leader and disruptor of the sports gaming industry.
- Exchange mentioned: Betswap.
12. Crypto Venue for Bets on Trump, JLo and Covid Faces U.S. Probe
- Summary: Polymarket, a decentralized betting exchange on current events, faces a probe by a top Wall Street Regulator.
- Exchange mentioned: Polymarket.
Other Press Articles
13. Why dealmaking in the sports betting and online gambling world is currently insane
Research Strategy
To provide the competitive analysis, we searched through the companies' websites and social media platforms, as well as third-party sources such as Crunchbase and Angel.co. For recent press articles, we leveraged cryptocurrency news sources such as Crypto News, News BTC, and other news publications such as Forbes, Fortune, and Business Insider.