Underdog is set to expand its prediction markets offering under its own exchange after acquiring Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Aristotle Exchange.
The fantasy sports operator has purchased Aristotle Exchange DCM and Aristotle Exchange DCO, which are a CFTC registered Designated Contract Market (DCM) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), respectively.
The acquisition enables Underdog to offer its own prediction market exchange, having launched sports prediction markets in its app last September through a partnership with Crypto.com.
“We look forward to working with the CFTC to offer an exchange that brings even more options to enjoy sports to our customers,” said Jeremy Levine, CEO and co-founder of Underdog. “We’re in the early innings of what prediction markets can be, especially for sports fans.
“We’ll use this opportunity to bring the same relentless focus on innovation and experience that we’ve always brought to our customers. The reality is, prediction markets are primarily about sports and no company knows how to engage with sports fans and create products for sports fans better than Underdog.”
Underdog has pivoted to prediction markets after withdrawing its licence application ahead of Missouri’s market opening in December, which was followed by its exit from North Carolina’s sports betting market.
Underdog is acquiring the two business from Aristotle Inc., which specialises in data mining voter data and also operates the PredictIt prediction markets platform on behalf of Victoria University of Wellington.
The details of the transaction have not been disclosed.