BetDEX becomes the first regulated sports betting exchange on the blockchain after securing the Isle of Man license

Sports betting exchange BetDEX has been licensed and is now regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), web3 company BetDEX Labs announced on Tuesday. BetDEX Exchange thus becomes “the first fully licensed regulated sports betting exchange on the blockchain,” according to the company.

In accordance with the Online Gambling Regulation Act (OGRA), BetDEX has received licensed approval for all forms of online gambling and gaming, including online sports betting. BetDEX Exchange is operated by BetDEX Labs, a company founded by former FanDuel executives Varun Sudhakar, CEO; Stuart Tonner, CTO; and Nigel Eccles, Chairman.

Varun Sudhakar, CEO and co-founder of BetDEXcommented, “Today’s news is an exciting step forward for BetDEX Exchange. With licensing and regulatory approval, BetDEX now boasts the first fully regulated sports betting platform in the web3 space and we are delighted to welcome players from approved regions. We are confident that this is the start of growing our exchange and continuing the expansion of sports betting into the Web3 landscape.”

“By being the first fully licensed and regulated sports betting exchange on the blockchain, we can a) create confidence in our customers that they are gambling on a platform that has undergone a rigorous due diligence process in terms of player protection and b) paves a way forward for the rest of the industry on how to run a heavily regulated business in web3,” he told Yogonet.

Abby Kimber, Head of eGaming, Digital Isle of Manadded: “It is a pleasure to welcome BetDEX to the island. We are excited to be at the forefront of technologies such as blockchain while maintaining our reputation as a highly regulated jurisdiction that prides itself on player protection. I wish BetDEX every success in their future endeavors and look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

BetDEX Exchange recently entered Open Beta, accepting bets from over 12,000 early access members in the past 3 weeks. Accepting stakes from selected countries throughout South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the exchange is a fully non-custodial platform built on the Monaco Protocol. BetDEX Exchange currently supports peer-to-peer sports betting on football and plans to introduce more sports in the near future.

“Having 12,000 unique crypto wallets connected to BetDEX Exchange in just a few weeks exceeded our expectations and helped to validate that there is a customer need in web3 for a sports betting platform,” Sudhakar narrates Yogonet. “Overall, users have indicated that they are satisfied with the platform, user interface and existing functionality; they are eager to see more product features built and markets offered.”

The exchange was first announced last year, billed as “the world’s first decentralized sports betting exchange.” The project marks FanDuel co-founder and former CEO Nigel Eccles’ return to the sports betting industry with the promise of leveraging the advantages of Web3 to deliver high speed and low transaction costs while eliminating counterparty risk.

“BetDEX aims to bring crypto to sports betting and revolutionize the industry for consumers,” Eccles said last year. “It’s going to be an incredible journey.” In 2021, the exchange secured a seed funding round of $21 million in November, led by crypto investment company Paradigm and cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The company announced earlier this year the Monaco Protocol, described as the world’s “first decentralized sports betting protocol.” It is now live on the Solana devnet and available for developers to build complementary products and tools, with BetDEX Exchange, one of the main contributors to the protocol, being the first sports betting application built on top of it.