Crypto.com rolled out a sports prediction market in the U.S. Monday amid a surge in gambling on real-world events among digital asset holders.
The offering will serve a growing crop of crypto traders who want to wager on real-world events outcomes, leveraging Crypto.com’s popularity with sports fans in the U.S., Matt David, a company spokesperson, told Decrypt.
“Sports have been an important part of our brand, from F1 to UFC to the Crypto.com Arena, and this is a great opportunity to engage those sports fans on the Crypto.com app,” David said.
Crypto.com’s sports platform is starting with the Super Bowl, advertised as “The Big Game” on the site, with users able to bet on one of the NFL teams still in the hunt for the season-ending playoffs.
US-based Crypto.com customers can bet on sports events using any digital asset supported by the trading platform, including the exchange’s native Cronos token, he added.
The debut of the sports betting offering coincides with the launch of Crypto.com’s U.S. trust company, which provides custody services for customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Prediction markets rise
Digital asset holders have increasingly flocked to prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi to bet on real-world events in recent months, especially after the U.S. election stoked speculative fervor among traders.
US-based trading platform Kalshi notched $132 million in betting volume on the U.S. presidential election alone, getting a big boost in deposits after launching support for USDC last month.
Meanwhile, Polymarket, which is not available to traders in the U.S., recorded a record $3.6 billion in trading volume related to the 2024 U.S. elections.
But sports betting is not particularly popular on Kalshi or other trading platforms in the U.S. that accept crypto. That gives Crypto.com an opportunity to serve crypto holders who enjoy gambling on sports.
Sports betting in the U.S. is a massive and growing market. In 2024, sports betting revenue stateside hit $14.30 billion, up from $0.48 billion in 2018, according to Statista data published in May.
Crypto.com has gained traction with U.S. sports fans due to its large investments into sports partnerships stateside. The company reportedly paid $700 million in 2021 to secure naming rights for the NBA Lakers’ home arena in Los Angeles.
And more broadly, the exchange has led most of its competitors in inking sports-related sponsorships. The trading platform, alongside the now-shuttered FTX, accounted for 35.9% of all athletics sponsorships signed between 2021 and 2024, CoinGecko data shows.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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