All about that ’base
Coinbase pushes into perps and prediction-market parlays
Coinbase launches perps, talks up sports combos.
In +More: Churchill Downs suffers Preakness buyout setback.
Pennsylvania’s skill games decision could hand Penn, Boyd a boost.
Blockchain in OSB: TxODDS moves its data feeds on-chain with TxLINE.
Hard Rock Bet is growing – we know you know! And we want to bring in some more maestros to make beautiful music in our Sportsbook. You need to be among the very best in the industry to be considered for these roles. Are you up to it?
Double ’base
I can shake it, shake it, like I’m supposed to do: Coinbase has launched pre-IPO perpetual futures, letting retail customers take long or short positions on private companies before they list, while at the same time talking up its new sports-centric prediction market combos.
Speaking during the company’s system update event this week, Max Branzburg, head of consumer, said perps offer exposure to companies before they go public, naming SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI as available or imminent.
“You can trade instantly without waiting for an allocation, go long or short 24/7 like any other perpetual future,” he said.
I got that boom boom that all the boys chase: Liz Martin, VP of product and head of derivatives and markets, set the launch against the backdrop of a wider derivatives push. She said crypto derivatives “drive 80% of global crypto volume” and positioned Coinbase as the venue to repatriate that activity.
“It started with us being the first to launch perpetual futures in the US last year,” Martin said.
“The majority of volume remains offshore,” she added, saying that customers should not need a VPN to reach it.
Two weeks ago, she said, Coinbase became the first US company to “connect American customers to our global crypto derivatives markets.”
And all the right junk in all the right places: On prediction markets, the news was Coinbase’s push into combos. “We’re launching Combos, the ability to roll up multiple predictions into a single, much more powerful position,” Branzburg said.
The sports orientation of the product was explicit. Branzburg referenced “picking Scottie Scheffler this week in the US Open” and listed live “in-game scores and plays” among the data the redesigned product surfaces.
One way or another: Alongside Combos, Coinbase announced “hundreds of new crypto binary markets,” including 15-minute contracts or short-duration, high-frequency products that echo in-play betting more than investing.
Branzburg attached no volume, handle or user figure to the prediction markets business, calling it only a source of “explosive growth.”
Kalshi ♥️ Coinbase: Recent data captures Coinbase’s footprint, and suggests it is substantial. EKG’s Prediction Markets Monitor this week found that Coinbase’s January 2026 integration with Kalshi – through which Coinbase distributes Kalshi’s event contracts – strengthened Kalshi’s position as a “hybrid sports-and-financial-event platform.”
Following that integration, EKG reported, crypto’s share of Kalshi’s execution volume expanded materially, with the growth led by short-duration Bitcoin contracts.
The analysts read the demand for those high-frequency, rapidly resolving markets as evidence of an appetite for gamified event trading.
“While sports remains the dominant driver of activity, crypto has emerged as the clearest source of incremental diversification, led by rapid growth in short-duration Bitcoin contracts,” EKG wrote.
In an inaugural prediction market report this week, Stifel’s analysts said prediction markets were “starting to expand into crypto, accelerating diversification away from sports and deepening integration into the financial ecosystem.”
15 minutes of fame: Given Coinbase has been a core driver of Kalshi’s crypto volume, the 15-minute crypto binaries it announced last week look like the in-house version of the very product format its Kalshi partnership helped scale.
Hence, combos and crypto binaries are less a new departure than a move to internalize volume Coinbase has been routing to a partner.
EKG’s separate observation that short-resolution crypto markets may become to financial event trading what parlays became to sportsbooks fits the same pattern.
Armstrong’s stretch: Between pre-IPO perps, crypto binaries and combos, Coinbase is assembling a suite that borrows heavily from the leverage and parlay mechanics of regulated betting, routed through a securities-to-derivatives wrapper.
Whether that wrapper holds, and how the CFTC and SEC view 15-minute binaries and correlated parlays on sporting outcomes, is not a question the update addressed.
But there can be no doubting the scale of Coinbase’s ambitions. Opening up the event, CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase was “here to help.”
“We’re here to help you take control of this dynamic world and own a piece of the upside.”
Buzzword bingo: This was at least less controversial than Armstrong’s performance during the company’s Q3 earnings call last November where he landed in hot water over a sorry/not sorry incident related to mention markets.
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Churchill Downs said the state of Maryland intends to exercise its statutory right to acquire the intellectual property rights to the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes by matching its previously announced $85m agreement with 1/ST Racing. CEO Bill Carstanjen said the company understands the decision and remains committed to working with Maryland stakeholders to maximize the potential of Pimlico Race Course.
Allwyn has launched an up to €150m share buyback program, first announced alongside its Q1 2026 results, reflecting the board’s confidence in the company’s growth, cash generation and commitment to shareholder returns. The program is scheduled to run until the end of the next financial year. Between June 9 and 16, Allwyn repurchased 565,626 shares for €7.8m. Following the purchases, the lottery operator held 34.1 million treasury shares, representing 4.22% of issued share capital.
Tabcorp has refinanced its debt profile by extending both tranches of its A$980m ($687.3m) term loan facility. The A$430m tranche maturity was pushed from June 2029 to October 2031, while the A$550m tranche was extended from July 2027 to June 2029.
+More predictions
Canadian fintech Wealthsimple has announced the upcoming launch of a standalone prediction markets app currently in beta. The platform, scheduled to launch this summer, will give Canadian retail investors access to nearly 4,000 event contracts listed on prediction exchange Kalshi, covering approved categories such as economic indicators, financial markets and climate trends.
Read across
Don’t fence me in: Nevada’s contempt application against Kalshi has put a narrow technical question at the center of the prediction market wars: can an operator build compliant geofencing in-house, on a $190,000 budget, or is that a category error? See yesterday’s Compliance+More.
Total political football: The Netherlands is preparing the most aggressive tightening of its online gambling regime since the market opened, with the State Secretary for Legal Protection, Claudia van Bruggen, proposing a total ban on advertising. From Tuesday’s C+M.
+More careers
The big move: Nicholas Green, general counsel at Underdog, has announced his departure from the company after an almost four-year stint. “I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished, and will be rooting for the entire team from the sidelines as a shareholder,” he said via LinkedIn. “Four years is a long time to grind,” he added. “Underdog is a rocket ship, and for many reasons it just felt right to find my next step.”
Optimove CEO Pini Yakuel said this week on LinkedIn that the CRM platform is cutting 10% of its staff as the company adapts to the changes being wrought by AI. “It is no longer enough to add AI features to a product,” he wrote. “The strongest companies will be the ones that rethink how they work, how they build, how they make decisions, how they serve customers, and how they structure their teams.”
Star Entertainment has appointed Ameet Patel as dual CEO of both The Star Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast in Queensland. Patel was previously president at Bally’s Chicago. Tequity has announced the appointment of Alex Scott as chief product officer.
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Puts+Takes
Predictions
Scaling: The Stifel report noted earlier showed that sports remains the majority of prediction market volume, with parlays and crypto scaling quickly. The team said Kalshi reported sports notional volume growth of 6% and 10% MoM in April and May, reaching $9.5bn and $10.4bn respectively.
They added that sports now comprise ~58% of total volumes on Kalshi while combo bets continue to scale quickly, reaching ~27% of notional volume in May.
The combined sports+combo volumes accounted for ~86% of total volumes/transactions, though the team noted notional volume definition overstates parlay contribution vs. a LFL handle metric.
As a percentage of transactions, combos are up to ~9% of total on Kalshi but, as noted earlier, outside of sports, crypto is by far the fastest-growing new category, quickly reaching ~two-thirds of ex-sports volume and ~11% of total volumes.
Skill games ruling
Penn, Ding! Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court decision that skill games constitute illegal gambling will provide an incremental positive for regional operators exposed to the state, chiefly Penn Entertainment, Boyd Gaming and Churchill Downs, according to the analysts at Citizens.
The team argued that the machines, estimated at anywhere between 70,000 and over 100,000 units, compete directly with B&M casinos.
Lawmakers now have 120 days to decide whether to legalize and tax the machines before removal or enforcement begins.
But Citizens are skeptical this happens: tax rates have repeatedly been the sticking point, and split political control of the legislature makes agreement within the window unlikely.
Love removal machine: Under a removal scenario, the analysts leaned on precedent from Kentucky and Virginia to pencil in a 10-15% uplift in win per unit per day as displaced demand migrates back to licensed venues.
Penn is the headline beneficiary, with an estimated $21m of incremental EBITDA.
The analysts conceded, however, that the gray market’s size and per-machine economics remain opaque, leaving the figures resting on assumption.
Shift over: The analysts also flagged a softer read-across for online operators, including DraftKings, Flutter, Rush Street Interactive and MGM, on the theory that some slot-oriented players shift to digital channels.
Should the state opt to regulate rather than prohibit, the calculus changes. Accel Entertainment would push into distributed gaming, while Penn and Boyd could lean on existing route brands.
But placement restrictions would thin machine numbers, leaving a smaller, though still positive, benefit than outright removal.
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Connections
RubyPlay and Hacksaw Gaming have both expanded their operator reach through new content distribution agreements. RubyPlay launched a selection of its established slot titles – including Mad Hit, Mr Coin and Immortal Ways Magic Gems – with Fanatics Casino in New Jersey, while Hacksaw Gaming brought its slot portfolio to locally licensed operator Casino.si in Slovenia. Octoplay has extended its footprint in the UK, making its games available through SkillOnNet’s platform, while Imagine Live’s live casino content launched with Ana Gaming in Brazil.
Bragg and Incentive Games have both secured content-led expansion deals. Bragg will distribute titles from Massive Gaming’s Slotmart, Whale House and Blitzcrown studios across Greece, Brazil and Malta-licensed markets through its aggregation platform. Incentive Games launched four real-money casino-style titles with BetMGM in Ontario and highlighted recent licensing approvals in Michigan and Pennsylvania as part of its broader North American growth strategy.
On the platform and technology side, EveryMatrix has supplied its full turnkey sportsbook, casino, platform and affiliate management solution to support BetAhoy’s UK launch, while Pollard Banknote was selected to provide the Colorado Lottery’s digital lottery platform. Evoke has extended its long-term partnership with BetMakers, continuing to deploy RaceOdds horseracing wagering solutions across the William Hill and 888 brands. Separately, Veikkaus selected OpenBet’s Neccton AI-enhanced responsible gambling system to strengthen player protection capabilities ahead of Finland’s gambling market reforms.
Still overpaying for geolocation? Find out why over 25 operators have upgraded to GeoLocs!
Blockchain in OSB – TxLine
Buy and build: TxODDS launched TxLINE on June 15, a Solana-based distribution layer for its odds and scores feeds that recasts the supplier’s institutional data as a consumption-based service.
Operators choose a latency and volume tier, pay in the USDT stablecoin on a four-week minimum cycle and, the company said, go live within minutes rather than the weeks enterprise procurement has traditionally required.
“TxLINE introduces a structural evolution to data distribution,” said chief executive Einar Knobel.
“By deploying an on-chain delivery layer, we give market participants direct access and complete cost transparency.”
The token word: Speaking to Earnings+More, Knobel set out the mechanics. “TxLINE is our Solana based platform for accessing Tx data,” he said. “It utilizes a hybrid on-chain/off-chain model to allow you to go in, make selections according to breadth of coverage and latency, and convert USDT to TxLINEs.”
This, he confirmed, is a token that “currently operates as an internal credit token.”
Keep up at the back: Two dimensions structure the service: latency, split between real-time feeds for live risk and algorithmic pricing and 60-second StablePrice snapshots; and volume, calibrated by the number of league tiers an operator needs.
Access is gated by the TxL token, with every data packet timestamped and anchored on-chain to create what the company calls a tamper-evident audit trail for backtesting, compliance and verification.
The aim, Knobel told E+M, is to make the process as transparent and frictionless as possible, while “standing by the quality of our data as a source of truth that can be used for the verification of smart contracts, and we have written it as such.”
The choice of chain follows from that: Solana, he said, is “finance grade,” with “a vibrant community and a lot of interesting applications being built on it.”
The World Cup is the proving ground, Knobel said, for a future of sports-betting data landscape that offers “more choice, a gradual end to monopolies, and wider and more direct tech distribution models.”
Upcoming earnings
Jul 17: Evolution, Betsson
Jul 21: Hacksaw Gaming
Jul 22: Kambi
Jul 29: Churchill Downs (earnings)
Jul 30: Churchill Downs (call)
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