Sports betting is a $120 billion industry, but in countries such as the U.S., where sports betting is popular, it’s likely to grow to $300-$400 billion in five years. At the moment, though, there are three major problems impacting online sports betting: outdated payment systems, resulting in high fees, delays, and potential fraud; limited types of bets on offer; and odds that are stacked in favour of the sports book.
That’s where ZenSports[1] comes in. According to its whitepaper[2], it’s a P2P sports betting marketplace where anyone can create and accept sports bets with anyone else in the world, without needing a centralised bookmaker, right from their phone.
Over 1,000 online sports betting products are in existence, with 40 of them only accepting cryptocurrencies. Yet none use smart contracts or peer-to-peer (P2P) betting to deliver a better user experience.
ZenSports is aiming to change this. By using crypto, the blockchain and smart contracts it is delivering a decentralised sports betting environment. Built on the ICON protocol, and as an ICX token (rather than an Ethereum ERC-20 token), the platform is developing a trust-less system that lets the marketplace settle bets and disputes.
According to ZenSports, it doesn’t get involved with the making of any bets, adding: “Makers can create any type of sports bet that they want, with the ability to self-report betting results. Takers can accept any bets offered by makers, as well as dispute results that they don’t agree with. Disputes are resolved by a voting marketplace, with penalties being assessed to the Maker or Taker if they’re on the losing end of a dispute.”
It offers bets to be created in the following sports National Football League (NFL), National Basketball League (NBA), England Premier League, Germany Bundesliga, Italy Serie A, France
