Even as the cryptocurrency market remains in the doldrums, blockchain technology continues to see wider adoption across a broad range of use cases. None more so than decentralized sports markets that are eating their way into the $75 billion global sports betting market, offering much needed transparency, and freedom from casinos, bookmakers, and regulatory hurdles alike.
Sports betting markets are not new in the cryptosphere, in fact, they were one of the first use cases to emerge when cryptocurrencies started to gain steam over the past decade. Given the extensive regulatory requirements, taxes, and other types of red tape that pervades this market, the anonymity of crypto and the dark web was a match made in heaven.
In recent years, however, prediction markets have continued to grow in popularity, allowing users to wager on the outcomes of a broad range of future events. This includes the outcome of a professional sporting event, along with the likes of the monthly non-farm payroll report, with bets and wagers traded over-the-counter, and peer-to-peer.
Decentralized Sports Markets Are Here To Stay
While decentralized prediction markets have a broad range of use cases, including hedging, speculating, and crowdsourcing, a bulk of the volumes in this segment currently consist of sports wagers. As a result, we are seeing the likes of HotStreak, a decentralized fantasy sports platform, along with PolyMarket, and BetDEX, increasingly coming to the spotlight.
These services neither have a gaming license, nor are they regulated by the SEC for promoting what is essentially a trade in securities. While this comes with its share of risks, it also allows such platforms to add tremendous more value to users, unlike regular gambling sites, where the risk and reward ratios are completely off, owing to extensive taxes, fees, and regulatory requirements.
With the broad frenzy surrounding this segment, we’ve recently been introduced to the likes of Frontrunner, which has essentially turned sports betting into a stock-trading like experience. Users can essentially buy shares in teams and players across the NBA, NFL, NHL, and more, which can then be traded based on the team or player’s performance in recent days.
A Strong Use Case For Crypto
Throughout the past decade, during crypto’s manic phase, critics have been persistent about the asset’s lack of any utility, besides evading taxes and regulatory scrutiny. This is definitely true, but in a number of cases, it is precisely the regulatory scrutiny that has held back industries and sectors worth $100s of billions, and decentralized blockchain, coupled with cryptocurrencies are here to unlock this value.
Governments all over the world have falsely stuck with this notion that they can police gambling sports betting. They are in for the reckoning as decentralized sports markets, fueled by cryptocurrencies, start to go mainstream. Users are further saved from the atrocious odds offered by mainstream betting platforms, with decentralized platforms offering market-based odds.
Basically, a user located anywhere in the world, can place bets and wager on teams and players on the platforms discussed above, and all they need is to buy cryptocurrency, which is again fairly straightforward, with the likes of SoFi.com, Block, and many other mainstream fintech giants allowing for the same.
Final Words
As global crypto winter is all set to give way to a new spring in the months ahead, its use cases, utilities, and driving forces will be fundamentally different from what used to be the case during its decade-long bull run.
Sports exchanges and decentralized markets will play an outsized role in driving adoption of crypto assets in the years ahead. Over time, broader predictions will rise to the forefront, but for sports and betting enthusiasts, these are undeniably exciting times.
