sports

According to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, the prediction trading platform Kalshi has entered the institutional sports risk hedging sector, partnering with brokerage firm Game Point Capital to help teams hedge performance bonus expenditures.It is reported that Game Point Capital issues hundreds of millions of dollars in sports insurance annually, primarily providing performance bonus insurance for teams and players. These policies can help sports clubs alleviate the financial pressure caused by large contract bonuses triggered by milestones such as qualifying for the playoffs or winning the championship.

Polymarket official Rodrigo posted on Discord that the fee mechanism will be expanded to the NCAA and Serie A markets. The fee structure is the same as the "15-minute cryptocurrency rise and fall market," meaning the taker pays the fee while the maker receives a rebate, but the coefficients are different ------ the rate is 0.0175, the index is 1, and the maker rebate is 25%, so the overall cost will be lower.Starting from 00:00 UTC on February 18, 2026 (Wednesday), all new NCAAB and Serie A related events created after this time will be subject to the new fee mechanism, while existing events will not be affected. The first rebate distribution will occur at 00:00 UTC on February 19.

The Polymarket team member shampoo accused competitor Kalshi on social media of inflating its esports trading volume through data manipulation. shampoo stated that the platform artificially increased its trading volume by approximately $1.7 billion by adding a generalized "esports" category, while actual data shows its esports trading volume is only about $63 million, less than 10% of Polymarket's esports trading volume.Additionally, Kalshi also referred to the CS market as both CS:GO and CS2 for double counting.shampoo mentioned on social media that users can verify this situation themselves by checking the API data in the network requests.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has filed a civil enforcement lawsuit in the First Judicial District Court of Nevada, accusing Coinbase of providing unlicensed sports event contract betting services through its Coinbase Financial Markets division. The documents show that the regulator is also requesting the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, requiring Coinbase to cease "operating a derivatives exchange and prediction market related to sports betting" in Nevada.Mike Dreitzer, Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, stated that this move aims to fulfill regulatory responsibilities and protect the order of the local gaming industry as well as the interests of residents in the state. This lawsuit comes less than a week after Coinbase announced a partnership with Kalshi to launch prediction market services in all 50 states. Although Kalshi is regulated at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, state-level regulators can still challenge related businesses legally.Additionally, Nevada has recently taken similar action against Polymarket, with the court previously approving a temporary restraining order prohibiting it from offering event-based contract betting to residents in the state. The related cases are also seen as potentially challenging the federal regulatory authority over prediction markets.

Massachusetts Judge Christopher Barry-Smith ruled on Tuesday that the state has the authority to prohibit the prediction market Kalshi from offering sports betting services within its borders. The ban could take effect as early as this Friday, and if implemented smoothly, it would become the first of its kind in the nation.In his ruling, the judge stated that any company wishing to operate sports betting in Massachusetts must comply with state laws, including obtaining the necessary licenses from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC). Previously, Kalshi argued that it was regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and thus the state government had no authority to intervene, but the judge dismissed this argument. Kalshi began offering sports betting services in January 2025, and by May of the same year, sports betting accounted for 70% of its total revenue.

Binance will hold a Yooldo (ESPORTS) trading competition from January 16, 2026, 21:00 to January 30, 2026, 21:00. During the event, users who trade Yooldo (ESPORTS) through the Binance wallet (no private key) or Binance Alpha will have the chance to share a reward pool of 448,500 ESPORTS tokens. After the event, eligible winners can claim their rewards on the event page, and the token rewards will be distributed by February 13, 2026, 21:00.

According to CoinDesk, Tennessee regulators have ordered Kalshi, Polymarket, and Crypto.com to cease offering sports event contracts to residents of the state, accusing these companies of operating without the necessary licenses, in violation of the state's gambling laws.These companies are currently registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as designated contract markets, providing users with the ability to purchase contracts based on the outcomes of sports events. However, under Tennessee's Sports Betting Law, any entity accepting bets on sports events must hold a license issued by the state government.SWC stated that none of these three companies hold a license. "Therefore, the sports event betting contracts offered... fall under the definition of bets as defined by the act, violating Tennessee laws and regulations, and are considered illegal activities," the letter stated.These companies have been ordered to stop all business activities in Tennessee by January 31, cancel any outstanding contracts involving residents of the state, and refund all deposits. Failure to comply may result in civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation and could lead to criminal charges for aggravated promotion of gambling (which is classified as a felony under state law).

New York State lawmakers have reintroduced a bill aimed at banning contract betting on sports and political events in prediction markets, while allowing betting on league outcomes.

According to financefeeds, Crypto.com is forming an internal market-making team to expand its prediction market business, hiring quantitative traders to handle the buying and selling of contracts related to sports event outcomes.Crypto.com responded that the trading team operates within the U.S. regulatory framework and has disclosed this to the CFTC, primarily providing liquidity support for North American derivatives business rather than engaging in proprietary trading for profit. The company emphasized that both internal and external market makers operate under the same rules, and the internal team does not have order flow priority or customer data advantages.This model is not unique in the prediction market. Kalshi uses designated market makers to support trading, and Polymarket is also building internal market-making capabilities. Prediction markets require continuous liquidity to function, but the establishment of in-house market-making teams raises concerns about conflicts of interest, with the key issue being how to handle transparency, data access, and information disclosure.

According to the official announcement, users with at least 250 Binance Alpha points can claim an airdrop of 80 ESPORTS tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes.Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points. Users must confirm the claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours; otherwise, it will be considered a forfeiture of the airdrop.

According to The Block, one of the world's largest sports apparel companies, Fanatics, announced on Wednesday the launch of a fan-driven prediction market platform through a strategic partnership with Crypto.com. Similar to industry leaders Polymarket and Kalshi, Fanatics Markets will allow users to trade contracts predicting the outcomes of real-world events.Fanatics Markets will be launched in two phases. The first phase goes live today, offering event contracts in sports, finance, and economics. The second phase will start early next year, at which point Fanatics Markets will expand to include event contracts related to cryptocurrency, stocks/initial public offerings (IPOs), climate, pop culture, technology/artificial intelligence, movies, and music.

According to CoinDesk, Connecticut has launched a legal offensive in the sports betting contract space, issuing cease-and-desist notices on Wednesday to three major prediction market operators—Robinhood, Kalshi, and Crypto.com. The state's consumer protection department accused these companies of engaging in "unlicensed sports betting."According to the state government's notice, these companies are "hereby ordered to immediately cease and desist from advertising, offering, promoting, or in any way providing contracts or other forms of unlicensed online gambling to residents of Connecticut."Robinhood argued on Wednesday that the company is regulated by the federal government of the United States.

Sports merchandise retailer Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin stated that the company is entering the prediction market business by partnering with the crypto platform Crypto.com. The new platform is expected to launch in the coming weeks, but no further details about the specific form and operation of the product have been disclosed yet.

Barstool Sports founder and millionaire Dave Portnoy made a bottom-fishing purchase of $1 million in XRP on Monday, while also increasing his holdings with $750,000 in BTC and $400,000 in ETH, totaling over $2 million.Portnoy posted a video on X to his 3.7 million followers, stating that he "strikes like a shark" during the market's sharp decline, and mentioned that he missed the last "legendary surge" of XRP, so this time he chose to make a direct large purchase.

ChainCatcher news, BC.GAME Esports officially announces the signing of electronic (Denis Sharipov). This 2021 CS Major champion and multiple-time HLTV annual Top player will take on a core role in CS2. electronic stated, "I am happy to join and stand alongside s1mple again; I am more eager and hardworking than ever." Following the announcement of s1mple, securing electronic sends a "big buy" signal from BC.GAME Esports to compete for the championship with a strong lineup.BC.GAME is a globally recognized online entertainment brand native to crypto, with a long-term investment in the esports ecosystem. BC.GAME Esports has built its own team, aiming to create a top squad with both performance and influence through a strategy of "competition + content + community" in line with Web3 culture. At the same time, the ecological token BC (BCGame Coin) saw a daily increase of 61%, with a market capitalization exceeding $105 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official blog, the Web3 fantasy sports platform Sorare has announced its migration from StarkEx to Solana, enhancing transaction speed and cost efficiency.Starting in October, ETH balances will migrate to Base (Coinbase Ethereum Layer 2); by the end of the month, all Sorare cards will be bridged to Solana NFTs, retaining rarity, numbering, season, XP, and metadata; payments and rewards will support ETH and SOL. Users can transfer cards to the Ethereum mainnet before migration, and externally withdrawn cards must be bridged back to Solana to trade on Sorare. The official team stated that they are exploring collaborations with external communities and may launch a Sorare token in the future.

ChainCatcher news, the parent company of the sports prediction application Football.Fun on the Base chain, Sport.Fun, will launch the token FUN in Q4, which will enjoy revenue sharing from the company's prediction markets. In addition, the platform plans to expand its products to the basketball and rugby markets.

ChainCatcher news, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood stated in an interview with the Master Investor podcast that the Hyperliquid protocol reminds her of the early potential of Solana, calling it "a rising star in the blockchain space." She pointed out that Solana has already proven its value and has entered the mainstream of blockchain.Currently, ARK Invest primarily holds three types of crypto assets in its public funds: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Wood revealed that the company indirectly holds Solana assets through Breera Sports, a project associated with the Solana treasury and supported by Middle Eastern investors. Additionally, she mentioned that economist Art Laffer provides advisory support for the project.Although Wood did not confirm whether she holds Hyperliquid assets, she believes the protocol is worth watching. She also emphasized that Bitcoin remains the core of her crypto investments, asserting that Bitcoin dominates the pure cryptocurrency space, characterized by its fixed supply and risk resistance. She added that Ethereum plays an important role in the DeFi ecosystem, while the influence of stablecoins is rising, but Bitcoin remains central to ARK's long-term investment thesis.Earlier, Cathie Wood stated that Ethereum cannot surpass Bitcoin, disagreeing with Tom Lee's viewpoint.

According to ChainCatcher news, the Chiliz Group has announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in OG Esports. Xavier Oswald will serve as CEO, while OG founders Johan "n0tail" Sundstein and Sébastien "Ceb" Debs will be responsible for new strategic projects, focusing on the integration of esports and Web3.Founded in 2015, OG Esports has achieved consecutive championships in the Dota 2 International tournaments and has now expanded into multiple gaming sectors. Its $OG fan token has reached a market value of $100 million, becoming the first fan token in the esports field to surpass this scale.After the acquisition is completed, Socios.com will serve as the exclusive platform for the $OG token, expanding fan token functionalities into areas such as ticketing, merchandise, and digital content. Through the Chiliz Group's global partnership network, OG plans to expand into international markets and establish a more stable business model. Both parties stated that this collaboration aims to promote the development of the fan economy and apply blockchain technology to the esports industry.