DraftKings Doubles Down, Partners With Polygon

Yes, it was just a few short months ago that DraftKings launched the ‘DraftKings Marketplace‘ in partnership with Autograph.io. In that short time, we’ve seen the sports gambling powerhouse churn out some successful NFT releases with the likes of Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, Tom Brady, and more.

Now, DraftKings is doubling down on crypto, this time pairing up with Polygon for some versatility and support in secondary-market transactions.

DraftKings & Polygon: A Prime Pair

Scalability and sustainability are two traits that Paul Liberman, co-founder and president of global product and technology at DraftKings, cited as “critical challenges of blockchain technology” that Polygon was able to address to meet DraftKings’ needs. According to the press release, the company will also have an option to potentially contribute to Polygon’s governance protocol and keep the network secure as a validator node with its own stake pool.

Polygon will hone in on custom NFT drops and secondary-market transactions.

The marketplace is available for millions of DraftKings’ users, and the platform is currently working towards transferability of NFTs to decentralized wallets via Ethereum mainnet. Meanwhile, Polygon has continued to show investment in NFTs, gaming, and corresponding areas. Existing partners for Polygon include the likes of Atari, ZED RUN, Decentraland, The Sandbox, and more.

“Although DraftKings Marketplace is still in it’s nascency, we are bullish on the possibilities that blockchain, NFTs, cryptocurrency and more will present as we prepare for Web 3.0 alongside Polygon and the new innovations ahead for digital collectibles,” added Liberman. A refreshing take from brand executives that shows the immense potential ahead for crypto in online gaming and gambling.

Polygon continues to solidify partners to build further investment in gaming and NFTs. | Source: $MATIC on TradingView.com

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Gaming, Gambling & Crypto

The emergence of young industries stateside, such as sports gambling and cannabis, are prime contenders for crypto integration – and this move for DraftKings is a prime example. They are also industries that are on the rise throughout the US in particular.

Reports emerged this week that New Jersey was the first state to hit a $1B month of bets last month. The first online sports betting entrant in the state was none other than DraftKings, who partnered with Resorts Digital; that partnership yielded nearly $42M last month, leading the online-only handle in the state.

All that to say that DraftKings is one of the largest players in the game, publicly traded with a valuation north of $20B.

Many platforms are targeting the crossover of gambling, gaming and crypto. Polymarket, for example, describes itself as an “information markets platform” that runs on Ethereum, where users can place bets on sports and current events.

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Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com