- Crypto.com recently announced a foray into the sports event trading market
- Allows users to purchase “contracts” for teams to either win or lose the Super Bowl
- Product will be available in all 50 states
Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency trading platform, recently announced a move into the sports event trading market that mirrors the way users were able to “bet” on the most recent presidential election.
The platform launched the first ever sports event trading product in the country, currently available in all 50 states, allowing U.S. users of Crypto.com and its app the ability to participate and trade their own prediction on the outcome of sports events.
Currently, the platform is live and only offering predictions on the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Sports Betting…But Not Sports Betting
The new service is similar to other event contracts on cryptocurrency offered by the company, part of its derivative offerings, which is a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated exchange.
Sports betting is regulated by state gaming regulators and commissions.
“Sports Events Trading offers an entirely new platform for U.S. users to engage nationwide at Crypto.com and in the Crypto.com app,” said Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, in a company release. “This unique financial product allows users to trade their prediction on the outcome of a sports event. It’s a fundamentally new concept for sports, and we’re thrilled to be the first regulated platform in the U.S. to offer it to our users.”
The service allows users to purchase “contracts” for various prices on whether certain NFL teams will win or lose the Super Bowl. For example, a current contract on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl is trading for $32.75, which would return $100 for each contract purchased. A contract on the Chiefs to not win the Super Bowl is trading for $75 and would return $100 if the Chiefs do not win the championship.
Available in All 50 States
Because the service is regulated by the CFTC, Crypto.com can offer the contracts immediately to users through every state in the country. This will likely rankle the sports betting industry, as it gives Crypto.com immediate access to every single state without having to go through the lengthy (and costly) process of obtaining a sports betting license in the 39 legalized markets in the U.S.
Additionally, Crypto.com will not be subjected to the high sports betting tax rates that operators bemoan as a cost to do business.
Crypto.com is subjected to certain requirements by the CFTC to ensure a regulated market for its traders.
Similar to Election Betting
The new offering shares similarities with companies offering event trading on the latest presidential election. Kalshi and ForecastEx took millions of “bets” on the presidential election through a similar mechanism, offering contracts to users on who would win.
Companies such as Kalshi will offer “contracts” to users, with prices for each contract reflecting demand from traders. Each prediction market contract matches a buyer and seller for each bet, while prices of the contracts fluctuate based on trading activity and market valuations.
After the election, Kalshi noted on X that it did more than $1 billion in trading volume for the election.
Federal regulators last year tried to bar users from taking contracts on elections. However, a U.S. appeals court in October allowed trading to resume on the presidential election. While the contracts were allowed for this past election, a federal bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to effectively ban the practice.
The post Crypto.com Launches Sports Prediction Market In All 50 States appeared first on Sports Betting Dime.
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