BetDEX

BetDEX (BetDEX Labs, Inc.) operates a decentralised sports betting exchange built on the public blockchain Solana. The platform is designed around the Monaco Protocol, which the company describes as connecting bettors worldwide in a single decentralised sports betting community. BetDEX markets itself on non-custodial settlement, low fees, competitive odds, and the absence of account restrictions or premium charges for successful bettors.

Wagers on the exchange are settled via smart contracts, so the platform does not hold customer funds, which the company says reduces settlement delay and eliminates counterparty risk. At launch the protocol was intended to be open-source and fully decentralised so third parties could build their own applications on top of it, and the company planned to accept wagers in Tether (USDT), Solana (SOL) and Samoyed coin (SAMO).

The company was founded in 2021 by Varun Sudhakar (CEO and co-founder), Nigel Eccles (chairman and co-founder) and Stuart Tonner (CTO and co-founder), all formerly of FanDuel. By July 2023 BetDEX described itself as a UK-headquartered company with a local presence in Ireland, holding gambling licences from the Isle of Man and Ireland.

Founding story

BetDEX was founded in 2021 by three former FanDuel executives: Nigel Eccles, who co-founded FanDuel in 2009 and took it to become Scotland's first $1bn-valued startup before its 2018 acquisition by Flutter; Varun Sudhakar, who began his career in investment banking in Silicon Valley and worked with Eccles in senior strategy and corporate development roles at FanDuel between 2015 and 2018 before executive roles at other startups in New York; and Stuart Tonner, FanDuel's first engineering hire, who spent more than eight years building and scaling its platform. Eccles took the role of non-executive chairman, Sudhakar CEO and Tonner CTO, with the trio stating they intended to build the business from a base in Scotland.

Business model

BetDEX runs a peer-to-peer betting exchange rather than a traditional sportsbook: bettors trade positions against one another on markets settled by smart contracts on Solana, with the operator not holding customer funds. The underlying protocol is intended to be open-source and decentralised so third parties can build applications on top of it.

Sources describe BetDEX as competing on low fees against incumbent exchanges that charge high fees and impose premium charges; no specific fee levels or revenue figures are disclosed in the available sources.

Traction

The exchange recorded over $1.5m in matched wagers in the six months to July 2023, growth the company attributed to expanded sport coverage across tennis, cricket, UFC and esports and the addition of in-play markets. Planned market launches at that time included the Rugby World Cup in France, the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India and cycling.

Latest developments

The most recent developments in the sources are the Irish trading licence and in-play betting launch in July 2023, plus expanded sport coverage; a July 2024 industry newsletter identified BetDEX as a blockchain-based exchange startup of note.