While driving in the car and listening to one of my favorite business podcasts talking all about the Superbowl, the idea began to form. In the US, the Super Bowl is one of the largest sporting events of the year. The co-hosts were joking about prop bets and commenting how much money was being spent by crypto companies to advertise on the superbowl. They were spending between $6.5M and $14M on superbowl ads per company. Some went even so far (FTX.com) as to giveaway 8.5 bitcoin in a contest. At the same time these hosts were talking about how much money was being spent betting on the game. It was estimated that $180M was wagered on the Super Bowl LVI at Nevada Sportsbooks alone (according to Jack Jones of betfirm.com) and another $5B–$6B illegally for a total estimate of $6.2B wagered.
As I’m listening to the podcast I couldn’t help but think that these crypto companies were spending so much to advertise about crypto, while betting being at an all time high, it must be happening WITH crypto. To my shock and awe, there weren’t any major online betting sites offering bets in crypto currency. The few that existed but were more focused on predictive markets generally, not available in the US, had a terrible UI/UX, or in two potential competitors cases — haven’t launched yet. No one had captured the market.
As I began researching, the phrase most of us are already familiar with, “the house always wins”, kept coming up. The Bettors, for whom without this entire industry would not exist, were getting lured in with get rich quick advertising only to be chewed up and spit out. Sports books have made out extremely well when when it comes to the Super Bowl and most betting events. Partially because people who don’t usually bet are doing complicated parlay and prop bets that are unlikely to win, but mostly because the lines and odds are designed to maximize profit while also taking high fees on top of that. What gets even trickier is that the odds you’ll get are different depending on where you live.
It clicked. A decentralized community governed by Bettors for Bettors. A Peer to peer betting platform where you can bet on anything anywhere. This solution allows anyone to be a Bookmaker or a Bettor and is run by the same players who so passionately put their own money on the line. Cut out the middle man to reduce fees and offer the the best possible wagers. By doing this we are creating Predictive Markets which with enough volume will create the near perfect equilibrium between what a Bookmaker is willing to offer and a Bettor is willing to accept. Thereby creating an optimal line of supply and demand.
The practical application of both predictive markets and a decentralized community are best exemplified using the blockchain. With this at the heart of Ledger, the possibilities are endless. With that said, we plan to learn from those who came before and set an example for those to come when it comes to being player first.
From traditional institutional betting:
To web3 betting:
There are a lot more exciting things coming soon with Ledger. We are a very early startup looking for cofounders, engineers, designers, industry leaders, and everything in between. If you’re interested in learning more or joining the team please reach out to connect@ledgerbets.com.
Thank you for reading and look forward to serving the community.
Jason Mighdoll
Founder and CEO, Ledger
