Instead of having a bookie, a casino, or site that is run by a company, the emerging decentralized predictions and gambling markets are run by software code and smart contracts.
Powered by crypto assets and secured by a blockchain, they provide 100% transparency and guaranteed payouts instantaneously upon resolution.
Decentralized prediction and gambling markets operate at a fraction of the cost of existing organizations, which makes payouts higher for bettors.
Two of the early leaders in this category are Augur (token: REP) and Gnosis (token: GNO), which offers a the Omen marketplace. Both of these have been in the works for years and both have launched new versions in the last few weeks.
Since then, they’ve captured about $1 million worth of bets and predictions on topics ranging from sports, book publication dates, political outcomes (Trump vs. Biden), Covid-19 reponse timelines, and prices of crypto assets in the futura.
That’s not a lot…today, however, we’re expecting these decentralized markets to grow rapidly into the billions and, eventually, trillions. Ultimately, they will disintermediate the existing market.
Jeremy
Co-Chief Investment Officer, Crypto Futura Fund
