Transparency in touting for sports betting, via the blockchain? It’s here, thanks to a platform called BlitzPredict.
BlitzPredict + sports betting
In the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal sports betting ban, state legislatures and other interested parties are reacting in attempts to take advantage of the opportunity that legalized sports betting affords. One interested party that anticipated the ruling and was proactive about the opportunity is BlitzPredict.
BlitzPredict has been in development since the middle of 2017 according to CEO Brett Richey, following a shift from BlitzPick, an app that had been developed for daily fantasy sports platforms DraftKings and FanDuel. With the introduction of a white paper for BlitzPredict in February, the sports betting world was put on notice that a similar successful application was coming for sports betting based on the strengths of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
“A lot of the work since then [mid-2017] to product launch was done on educating ourselves about blockchain technology and preparing for the token sale,” Richey explained. “Blockchain technology can be very tricky to get right so we wanted to make sure we were prepared before launching the platform. It’s still unclear exactly how sports betting will roll out throughout the country so we are staying the course and sticking to our roadmap. We anticipated this ruling so our roadmap already took into account the likelihood of legalized sports betting. ”
Tracking sports betting picks
Now that the main platform has launched, the efforts for BlitzPredict are focused on customer education and building the predictive models for the various sports that are bettors are likely to wager on. There are a few items which Richey feels will make BlitzPredict successful in the brave new world of legal sports betting in the US. Its recently launched “PredictTrack” product records all predictions to the Ethereum blockchain.
“For one, we aren’t aiming to take bets ourselves, we simply want to provide information and tools for sports bettors,” Richey commented. “You can think of us as Kayak and each sportsbook as Delta, or United, etc. We are the first project recording predictions to the blockchain, time-stamped against true market odds and we have several other features in the works, such as smart contract betting, e.g. if the Patriots are minus-7, you can set up a smart contract to execute a wager if the line hits minus-6, or whatever specified criteria you have.”
One of the biggest learning curves for users of BlitzPredict might be blockchain technology and XBP token, the cryptocurrency the app utilizes. Richey says that BlitzPredict will always have free content and experiences for all users along with premium features that can be accessed using XBP. Fiat options within the app are being developed to make it easier for users to acquire XBP. One of the biggest benefits to users is the trust the blockchain delivers.
“The blockchain provides transparency and accountability,” Richey elaborated. “Users of our platform will know that all records are accurate, based on real market odds. Nobody can hide losses, or claim they got a price that never existed. We also use blockchain technology to ensure that our users will always get the bet they want and will always get paid when they win.”
Transparency is good for everyone
Richey feels the transparency offered by the blockchain will be augmented by the strength of the predictive models in the application.
“Our director of analytics spent nine years working for a private syndicate so he is very familiar with what it takes to build successful models that actually win,” Richey said. “There are a lot of charlatans in this space, which is one of the reasons we are using blockchain technology to verifiably prove our record, time-stamped against true market odds. We are also working on a neural net / deep learning system to pair with the more traditional modeling approach. This model should be able to scale across all sports.”
Richey made it clear that BlitzPredict plans to have models across the wide complement of sports that bettors will look to wager on, including esports as odds on those competitions emerge.
As the landscape of legal sports betting in the US takes shape, building the industry with integrity and transparency in a digital and fast-moving world will be essential. The blockchain lends well to those ends, as that’s exactly what it was designed for. BlitzPredict has been on the leading edge of integrating blockchain into sports betting, and if its predictive models are as successful, BlitzPredict could become a household name for bettors.
