The Monaco Protocol is set to become the first decentralised sports betting protocol in the world. The Protocol, which is based on Solana, will serve as a global clearinghouse for sports betting, providing bettors with fast, low-cost trades across a shared liquidity pool.
Third parties will be able to build their own applications and innovate on top of the platform thanks to the Protocol, which will be fully decentralised, open-sourced, and permissionless.
The Protocol is now available on the Solana devnet for developers to create complementary products and tools.
The BetDEX Exchange, the world’s first sports betting app based on the Monaco Protocol, has entered closed beta, with hundreds of early community members placing bets and over 80,000 people on the waiting list.
The BetDEX Exchange, which currently supports soccer bets and plans to add more sports in the near future, is one of the first projects to launch on the Monaco Protocol.
Furthermore, members of the popular Solana project Samoyedcoin are planning to create Samoyedcoin-themed prediction markets for crypto-related events and markets on the Monaco Protocol.
Varun Sudhakar, CEO and Co-Founder of BetDEX, commented on the news, “we believe the future of sports betting is decentralized in nature, and the Monaco Protocol and BetDEX Exchange puts us at the forefront of that industry advancement.
“We have a world-class team with deep industry expertise and we’re squarely focused on securing the necessary gaming licenses this year, while delivering a superior sports betting experience against an outdated status quo.”
The Samoyedcoin Project Lead added: “the Monaco Protocol is a powerful standard for decentralized prediction markets, and we’re thrilled to have community members build on and contribute to the Protocol.”
BetDEX was founded by former FanDuel executives, including former FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles, who serves as the company’s chairman, and received a $21 million seed funding round led by crypto investment firm Paradigm and cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2021.
The global sports betting market was valued at more than $250 billion USD in 2021, and it is expected to grow to $350 billion USD by 2024.
However, in the absence of a true decentralised option, the industry is stymied by incumbents charging high fees and delivering minimal product innovation.
Consumers will gain access to fast, low-cost trades across a shared liquidity pool while eliminating counterparty risk by building or leveraging products based on the Monaco Protocol.
Stuart Tonner, CTO and Co-Founder of BetDEX, concluded: “Sports betting is going to be revolutionized by blockchain technology, and we are firmly ahead of the curve. We already have a great team in place that continues to rapidly grow and have a series of exciting product milestones on the horizon before the end of the year.”
