WagerWire co-founder and CEO Zach Doctor is adamant prediction markets are “here to stay”, as the startup prepares to enter the red-hot space through subsidiary Wire Markets.
WagerWire, a secondary market to buy and sell active bets and daily fantasy sports (DFS) entries, announced 10 June it had been granted a provisional prediction markets licence in Gibraltar through its event contract subsidiary Wire Markets.
Operators including Flutter, Fanatics and DraftKings have added prediction markets to their offering in the last eight months, as US courts continue to grapple with the legality of prediction markets.
With a slowing down of states regulating online sports betting, Missouri being the last in December 2025, Doctor was asked by EGR whether more jurisdictions launching online sports betting would halt the growth of event contracts.
“I think prediction markets are here to stay,” he said, “but the battle in the US is very US-centric – it’s a state versus federal rights argument, and I think that argument is fairly sound.
“Political systems could change but it’s hard to really put prediction markets back in the bag now. They might limit what kind of markets they can do or in-play, but the argument, at this point, looks pretty certain it’ll remain a federal issue.
“Some of the rule changes could create paths for the sportsbooks to still have good business with in-game stuff, so there’s going to be a lane for B2C sportsbook operators to still exist.
“They’re not going to zero, but I do think it’s going to be more a case of plugging gaps and creating other products that the predictions [platforms] can’t get approved.”
For Travis Geiger, WagerWire co-founder and chief experience officer, prediction markets staying for the long term is down to the product being “fundamentally different”, with it putting pressure on sportsbooks in ways other products have been unable to.
Highlighting sweepstakes and DFS as two verticals which appeared in recent years to challenge US sportsbooks, he explained that “innovation is welcome” and prediction markets have been able to “capture the culture” in a way the latter two were unable to.
Geiger said: “Prediction markets are unique but also familiar to anyone who’s been in this industry because it feels like another loophole in the same way DFS and sweepstakes were – ways to operate and get around some of the less favourable dynamics in regulations.
“You could argue sweepstakes or DFS didn’t capture the culture; they were just a cheeky way to make a parlay. Even peer-to-peer betting exchanges didn’t capture the culture.
“This is the superpower of the United States of America – we are a culture factory. We don’t make products and tell you what they can do; we show you how they can make you feel.
“When you say to somebody, ‘we have a peer-to-peer betting exchange’ those words sound boring. When you say, ‘prediction market’, I know what’s going to happen.
“I like to predict outcomes, and markets make money, so it’s simple rebranding. It’s just about knowing how to touch a nerve. It’s a different psychology.”
Last month, WagerWire announced it became the second company after ADI PredictStreet to be granted a provisional prediction markets licence in Gibraltar.
Wire Markets will have a physical HQ in the British Overseas Territory, though WagerWire is a fully remote operation of approximately 20 staff, made up of a core team of compliance professionals with roles including chief anti-money laundering officer and chief compliance officer.
The Gibraltar entity will operate independently under the parent company, Wire Industries.
The plan is for Wire Markets to launch around the 2026 NFL season, which begins in September, with Doctor explaining the strategy is to initially offer sports event contracts before expanding into “sports-adjacent things like weather” and finance.
WagerWire has partnered with the “biggest global market makers”, said Geiger, with the aim of having “the best platform for parlays and accas out of anyone”.
The co-founder’s comments come weeks after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency which oversees event contracts in the US, proposed a set of rules for prediction markets.
Part of those proposals appeared to close the door to the possibility of casino-style event contracts, while permitting a variety of sports event contracts including final scores, winners of games and point differentials.
However, restrictions include markets surrounding player injuries, micro-betting markets and refereeing decisions.
Meanwhile, North Carolina announced at the start of July a 6% tax on prediction markets on “net trading fee revenue apportionable to the state”.
The fee will come into effect on 1 January 2027.
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Zach Doctor tells EGR opponents will struggle to put event contracts “back in the bag now” and that it “looks pretty certain it’ll remain a federal issue”
The post Prediction markets are “here to stay”, insists WagerWire co-founder first appeared on EGR Intel.