Since mobile sports betting was introduced in New York the last weekend in January, more than $6B has been wagered. While this has been an outlet for avid sports bettors, there are still a large number of sports aficionados that are looking for social ways to share their love of sports without actually betting money on outcomes. Stakes is a sports wagering platform that allows sports fans to place friendly bets and earn NFTs. All results are recorded on the blockchain, giving users bragging rights and an immutable track record with the NFT serving as a hedonistic benefit based on performance or what the company calls “proof-of-flex”. There is absolutely no monetary exchange on the platform, instead, Stakes chooses to focus on the communal aspects of sports fandom. Stakes’ app is currently in open beta and the company is a recent graduate of IAC’s incubator program. AlleyWatch caught up with Stakes Founder and CEO Kevin Wang to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Matrixport is a digital assets financial services platform where users can invest, trade, and leverage crypto assets. Founded by Daniel Yan, Jihan Wu, and Yuesheng Ge in 2019, Matrixport is backed by IDG Capital, Polychain, Tiger Global Management, Qiming Venture Partners, and Paradigm and is headquartered in Singapore.