The first regulated sports betting exchange built on the blockchain has gone live and is now accepting bets on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The BetDEX Exchange – a product built by BetDEX Labs Inc – launched on the Solana mainnet on 24 November.

Solana is a decentralised blockchain platform that facilitates crypto transactions. It is described on its website as “ultra-fast, low cost and censorship resistant”.

To celebrate the launch, the BetDEX Exchange will not charge any fees for wagers placed on 2022 World Cup fixtures, or on any football matches throughout 2022.

The BetDEX Exchange was set up by former FanDuel execs, including Varun Sudhakar as CEO, Stuart Tonner as CTO and Nigel Eccles as chairman.

Solana up 10% with the launch of @BetDEXLabs pic.twitter.com/oi674Vmw0o

— Nigel Eccles (@nigeleccles) November 24, 2022

BetDEX CEO and co-founder Sudhakar said: “The Solana mainnet launch is an incredible milestone for BetDEX and one our community has been patiently waiting for.

“We are excited for our users to have real stakes in the game, and we couldn’t imagine a better time to do so than during the World Cup,” he added.

According to the company’s founders, BetDEX has set out to disrupt the global sports betting industry by shifting the power from the operators to the players.

The BetDEX Exchange is 100% non-custodial in nature, which means the company never controls or holds player funds, unlike traditional sportsbooks that have been known to charge double-digit margin fees and shut down profitable player accounts.

BetDEX CEO Varun Sudhakar: “The Solana launch is an incredible milestone and one our community has been patiently waiting for.”

All wagers are held via transparent public smart contracts on the blockchain. On settlement of the bet, the smart contract immediately dispatches funds to the player’s wallet.

At the beginning of November, BetDEX became the first licensed and regulated sports betting exchange on blockchain with licence approval from the Isle of Man.

The platform is currently accepting wagers from countries throughout Europe, Asia, Latam and Africa and is seeking regulatory approval in other markets around the world.

The exchange platform will remain in the “beta” testing phase until 2023, but customers will still be able to wager real money from launch.

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