Matchbook Finalises Betdaq Acquisition as Peer-to-Peer Betting Grows

Matchbook has completed the acquisition of fellow betting exchange Betdaq from Dermot Desmond for an undisclosed sum, making parent company Triplebet’s resources stronger before potentially competing against prediction market operators moving into the UK.

Betdaq’s existing service, operated by EPS Ltd, will continue to be open for trading until Wednesday, 21 October to ensure a smooth transition process.

Betdaq players will be able to make withdrawals until Wednesday, 4 November. This marks the latest in a series of acquisitions of Betdaq, and it is the second time Desmond has sold it.

Desmond founded Betdaq in 2000, before selling it to Ladbrokes for €30 million (about £25 million) in 2013. However, in 2021, Desmond bought the brand back from Entain, which by that time had become the parent company of Ladbrokes following a series of mergers and acquisitions, for an undisclosed sum.

Matchbook CEO Ronan McDonagh said:

“Betdaq and Matchbook grew up proving the same idea – that bettors get a better deal when prices are made by a market rather than a margin.

"A quarter of a century on, that idea is winning. Exchanges and prediction markets are bringing peer-to-peer pricing to new audiences around the world. This acquisition deepens the pool at the heart of everything we build.”

Prediction markets battle

In January, Triplebet became the UK’s first official prediction markets operator when it repackaged the sportsbook at its EasyBet brand as a prediction market.

When ADI Predicstreet launched in the UK in June, Predictstreet.matchbook.com was listed among the domain names under Triplebet’s Gambling Commission license as part of a carriage deal. Matchbook itself operates as a peer-to-peer betting exchange.

Prediction markets have rapidly become popular across the US, in part due to the simplified “Yes/No” form of bets they offer. In the prediction market format, participants trade contracts where the payoffs are tied to a future event. The odds shift based on the betting activity from players.

Prediction market operators in the US have not limited themselves to sports betting, offering markets in areas such as culture, politics, crypto and economics.

An example of a prediction market bet would be a player betting Yes or No on whether President Donald Trump will attend another football game this year. If 80% of bettors vote Yes, then the Yes bet will likely cost $0.80 and the No bet will cost closer to $0.20.

Possible UK competition

Kalshi and Polymarket have become two of the standout names in the space in the US, but several states have sought to take enforcement action against them. While Minnesota is the only state to have placed an outright ban on prediction markets, more than 10 states are currently in litigation with prediction market operators, including Nevada and New Jersey.

Last week, Simon Walls, Executive Director at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), confirmed both Kalshi and Polymarket have held talks with the FCA about the prospect of launching in the UK. Entry into the UK for both brands may not be straightforward, as the FCA prohibited selling binary options in the UK in 2019.

The ban prevents companies acting in or from the UK from selling, marketing, or distributing binary options to retail consumers. In its Perimeter Report, the FCA ruled prediction markets to be binary options which would make them subject to the ban.

The FCA separates these markets from non-financial events such as sports or political events, which fall under the remit of the Gambling Commission.