Sports Prediction Markets Come to Crypto

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Crypto[dot]com's Sports Prediction Market Launch 🔮

Crypto[dot]com have announced the launch of their sports event trading product, marking a significant milestone as a CFTC-regulated service nationwide in the United States.

The product allows users to trade predictions on sports events, starting with Super Bowl LIX outcomes. This launch comes through their Derivatives North America division, which already offers various CFTC-regulated crypto derivatives products.

Like Polymarket, users can wager on yes / no outcome predictions, but in sports. Polymarket recorded nearly $3.2 billion in all-time bets during the election, with $100 million traded on November 4th alone, as it gripped the nation and other parts of the world during the U.S presidential election.

What makes this particularly interesting is that while traditional sports betting operates under state-by-state regulations, this product, being CFTC-regulated, is available nationwide. The initial offering is focused on simple win/lose predictions for the Super Bowl, with potential expansion to more complex offerings in the future. It remains to be seen, however, if those complex offerings will then push the product into more turgid state-by-state regulatory journey that most gambling businesses in the U.S know too well.

The announcement came in the same month (December 2024) that Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev said they are ‘definitely thinking about’ sports betting.

Analysis & Concluding Thoughts 🧠

The launch by Crypto[dot]com represents a product extension that leverages their existing strengths and audience size as well as their influence and synonymity with sports.