BetDEX Labs‘ quest to revolutionize online sports wagering ended 2022 on a high note. In November, the Web3 company announced just a few days ahead of the FIFA World Cup that its BetDEX Exchange would be launching on the Solana mainnet, accepting real-money wagers for the first time.
BetDEX, the first fully-licensed sports betting exchange built on the blockchain, has a clear mission: to revitalize the $2 trillion sports betting industry by shifting the power from the operators to the players. “Current sportsbooks charge double-digit fee margins, remove winning players from their platform, and make it difficult to withdraw your money,” claims the company, helmed by former FanDuel executives Varun Sudhakar, CEO; Stuart Tonner, CTO; and Nigel Eccles, Chairman.
In contrast, the BetDEX Exchange is 100% non-custodial in nature, meaning BetDEX never controls or holds player funds. All wagers are held on transparent, audited, and public smart contracts on the blockchain and upon settlement, the smart contract immediately remits funds to the winner’s wallet, the exchange notes. And lastly, BetDEX Exchange never places stake limits or charges on winning players.
Yogonet spoke with Varun Sudhakar about what sets this proposition apart and how BetDEX advanced its vision during the closing year. Additionally, he explains what to expect from the firm in 2023.
What is your assessment of how the gaming sector, and sports betting in particular, developed in 2022? What role did BetDEX play within this context?
We are seeing crypto becoming an increasingly important payment gateway for the industry, offering alternative and cheaper payment solutions for sports books. Secondly, we are seeing in both betting and crypto markets the risks associated with centralized sportsbooks and exchanges.
As a non-custodial exchange BetDEX never handles customer funds and offers an exciting alternative to having to trust an off-shore entity with your money.
BetDEX Exchange concludes the year by going live on the Solana mainnet, accepting real-money wagers for the first time. What can you tell us about this landmark achievement? What are your early impressions since the exchange went live?
In 2020 we built and launched a fully licensed and regulated sports betting exchange built on an open-source and permissionless protocol (called Monaco). While BetDEX is currently the only exchange built on Monaco, we have seen a lot of interest from other operators looking to use the protocol and expect we will see a significant number of launches in 2023.
With the BetDEX launch, we have been very pleasantly surprised by how quickly developers have seen the opportunity to build on shared infrastructure and liquidity. Unlike with a centralized exchange, Monaco is free to use and doesn’t discriminate against who can use it.
BetDEX launched with World Cup markets and we have been very pleased with the organic demand from users. The biggest ask from customers has been to expand our coverage to offer markets in additional leagues and sports.
BetDEX aims to revitalize the sports betting industry by shifting power from operators to players. What opportunities do you see in Web3 for the betting industry? Where do you see Web3 betting heading in the next year?
Sports betting is rife with operators who each have their own discrete and fragmented liquidity pools, leading to an ecosystem where you need to charge high fees and limit winners to have a sustainable business.
Now imagine a world where liquidity is pooled globally, leading to fee compression and tighter spreads; in this environment, sports betting companies would be forced to compete by creating the best product and the ultimate user experience. This isn’t as crazy as it may sound – it’s the current state of the financial markets. And Web3 offers the perfect rails to build this ecosystem in a public, transparent and permissionless manner.
What should we expect from BetDEX in 2023? Are there any new plans or announcements you could share with us?
Our focus is on expanding our sports coverage and launching our in-play market offering. 2023 will be a year of continued improvement of the product. In addition, we plan to make it easier for non-crypto users to onboard to the product.
