Key Highlights
- Payward led Onyx Odds’ Series A funding round, valuing the company at $220 million.
- Onyx Odds has grown to nearly one million users in less than two years after launch.
- The partnership will integrate Onyx with Payward Services’ regulated U.S. derivatives and crypto infrastructure.
Payward, the parent company behind crypto exchange Kraken, today announced a lead investment in prediction market platform Onyx Odds as part of the company’s Series A funding round, which values the startup at $220 million.
According to the official release, the investment marks an expansion of Payward’s presence in the growing prediction market sector, an industry that has attracted increasing attention from both crypto-native firms and traditional financial institutions.
Onyx Odds enables users to engage with sports outcomes through exchange-traded instruments, offering a market-based alternative to traditional sports betting models.
According to the company, the platform has grown to nearly one million users within its first year while raising less than $8 million in venture funding before the latest round.
Onyx Odds to integrate Payward’s regulated infrastructure
As part of the partnership, Onyx Odds will integrate with Payward Services, the company’s institutional infrastructure platform that powers Kraken and other Payward products. The integration will allow Onyx to launch prediction market offerings using Payward’s regulated U.S. derivatives stack while also embedding crypto trading capabilities directly into its application.
Payward said the arrangement eliminates the need for Onyx to independently build licensing, exchange connectivity, and operational infrastructure. The company added that the integration will provide immediate access to the infrastructure, licenses, and operational capabilities needed to scale.
Payward sees prediction markets as a major opportunity
For Payward, the investment represents a strategic move into a sector that many analysts now view as one of the most promising emerging categories in financial services. Prediction markets have expanded rapidly over the past year, fueled by regulatory clarity, growing institutional interest, and increased adoption across sports, politics, economics, and real-world events.
Mark Greenberg, Head of Payward Services, said the company believes prediction markets are becoming a foundational part of future financial infrastructure.
“Prediction markets are one of the fastest-growing emerging categories in financial services,” Greenberg said.
He highlighted Payward’s regulatory positioning, noting that the company operates a rare combination of licensed entities under one umbrella.
“We are the only U.S. platform that brings a CFTC-registered FCM, a CFTC-designated DCM, and a global crypto exchange under one roof.”
Regulatory pressure on prediction markets intensifies
Despite rapid growth and increasing institutional interest, prediction market platforms continue to face mounting regulatory scrutiny across the United States.
Earlier this month, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed lawsuits against prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket, alleging that the platforms function as illegal sportsbooks and unlicensed gambling operations under state law.
The lawsuits represent the latest chapter in a growing nationwide battle over how event-based contracts and prediction markets should be regulated.
The legal challenge follows similar efforts by several state regulators seeking to restrict or scrutinize prediction market offerings, despite arguments from industry participants that these platforms operate under federal regulatory frameworks.
Regulatory pressure has also emerged at the federal level. In June, a group of U.S. lawmakers urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Kalshi and Polymarket over concerns that consumers may be misled by conflicting marketing messages and regulatory claims.
The lawmakers requested that the agency examine whether prediction market platforms adequately disclose risks and accurately represent their regulatory status to users.
A broader expansion beyond crypto trading
The growing scrutiny highlights the uncertainty surrounding prediction markets as the sector expands beyond politics and sports into broader financial and economic forecasting.
While institutional investors and infrastructure providers increasingly view prediction markets as a new category of financial products, regulators continue debating whether certain contracts resemble financial instruments, gambling products, or an entirely new asset class.
For companies such as Payward and Onyx Odds, the opportunity is significant, but so is the evolving regulatory landscape. As prediction markets move further into the mainstream, the industry’s long-term growth may depend as much on regulatory clarity as on user adoption and technological innovation.
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