Sports betting giant DraftKings acquires Railbird to enter the prediction market, with Polymarket as the underlying settlement engine.

The American sports betting giant DraftKings has recently officially entered the encryption field through the acquisition of the regulated Railbird, announcing that its prediction market will be designated as a clearinghouse by Polymarket. For Polymarket, this is not just a business expansion, but a significant milestone for the infiltration of encryption infrastructure into the mainstream.

DraftKings enters the prediction market, with Polymarket as the clearing partner.

Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan stated in a post yesterday that DraftKings, after the acquisition of Railbird, chose not to develop their own blockchain system, but instead directly adopted Polymarket Clearing as their clearing backend.

Coplan stated on X: “Congratulations to DraftKings on the acquisition of Railbird, we are honored to be their designated clearing partner as they enter the prediction market.”

This means that all prediction market settlements of DraftKings will be completed through blockchain infrastructure, allowing encryption technology to truly enter the underlying operations of the mass entertainment and gambling industry.

(Will Polymarket issue tokens? The founder reveals two undisclosed financings, hinting that $POLY will be launched)

Prediction market reshuffle: Polymarket's B2B model shift

Analyst Dustin Gouker, who focuses on the gaming industry, pointed out that the entry of DraftKings will reshape the landscape of the prediction market.

He believes that the current market is mainly dominated by the encryption native Polymarket and the US-regulated Kalshi, but DraftKings, with its large user base and brand visibility, will inevitably shake the existing balance:

If DraftKings and FanDuel launch prediction markets in the short term, Kalshi will hardly be able to compete unless it shifts to a B2B model.

This collaboration allows Polymarket to officially enter the B2B space from a B2C platform, providing decentralized clearing services for other traditional companies.

At the beginning of this month, the platform just received a $2 billion investment from the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, ICE, further highlighting the high interest of traditional finance in such blockchain infrastructure.

Encryption infrastructure penetrates the real world, starting with prediction markets.

A prediction market enthusiast Pix also commented: “A publicly traded company with a market capitalization of $17 billion is now using encryption infrastructure to settle bets.”

For many years, people have been asking when encryption technology will become the backend of the real world, the answer is that it has already happened, and it started with the prediction market, which is the starting point of the supercycle (supercycle).

As a competitor to Polymarket, Kalshi is reported today to have multiple VCs bidding to invest at a valuation between 10 billion and 12 billion USD, multiplying 5 to 6 times in just a few months.

(Kalshi's valuation skyrockets to 10 billion, making the prediction market a hot spot for VC investment)

From prediction market to the future of financial infrastructure.

DraftKings' move may just be the beginning, as there will likely be more cases of encryption technology being integrated into traditional finance or the internet industry in the future. At the same time, this move symbolizes that the prediction market is no longer just a niche speculative game, but has become the first stop for the mainstream implementation of encryption technology.

(Polymarket and Kalshi secure massive funding, eight major prediction market gameplay rules at a glance)

This article discusses how sports betting giant DraftKings acquires Railbird to enter the prediction market, with Polymarket serving as the underlying settlement engine, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.