Block Sports, a sports betting decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the NEO blockchain, has announced details of its upcoming token sale. The platform aims to provide private head-to-head betting functionality, and formalize real life wagers between two individuals on the NEO blockchain.

The Block Sports Exchange proposes to solve issues of hacks and theft by removing central points of failure through “creating decentralized and trusted framework” and “providing a rich user experience through an off-chain service layer.” (Page 1) Users will be able to bypass a centralized bookkeeper, and use cryptocurrency to place bets directly with other users. Counterparty risk is removed “through the decentralization of critical architecture, removing administrative control over functionality which may impact user’s funds.” In this model, escrow and processing will be handled on the NEO blockchain.

Registration will not be required to use the platform and users will be able to bet with a wallet that contains GAS. 

Block Sports opted to build on NEO due to its theoretical blockchain performance of 10,000 transactions per second, the NEO stake and GAS generation token model, and its support for multiple development languages.

Betting Model

A sports betting exchange is a marketplace for bettors to trade on the outcome of a sporting event. However, with the blockchain it allow bettors to bet against each other as opposed to “the house.” In a traditional exchange, the forces of “bids” and “offers” shape the price of a cryptocurrency. Similarly, in a betting exchange the forces of a “back” and a “lay” shape the odds of an outcome. When a “back” is made the participant is betting for an outcome, and when a “lay” is made the participant is betting against an outcome.

Block Sports initially intends to support popular sporting markets such as soccer, basketball, American football and eSports. In the future, Block Sports would like to include financial markets, giving users the ability to bet on commodities, stocks and bonds, and political betting markets, allowing betting on the outcome of elections and major political events.

Token and Distribution of Platform Fees

Participants will be able to use GAS to place bets, and 2% flat fee will be charged on all winnings. However, Block Sports will also feature a native BSX token, which will function as a divided-bearing token. BSX token holders will receive a share of the platform fees accumulated by the Block Sports Exchange. 

The accumulated fees will be distributed in the following manner:

  • 75% to BSX token holders
  • 5% to active oracle operators
  • 20% to Block Sports company for long term development funds

Roadmap

Thus far in 2018, Block Sports has developed smart contract prototypes and a functional exchange demo. The smart contract prototypes are open source, NEO-based smart contracts for on-chain matching and the oracle consensus network. The functional DEX demo showcases the UX with mock data and results.

In Quarter 3 of 2018, the sports betting DEX will host its public token sale, and expand their team through hiring necessary roles.

In Quarter 1 of 2019, the beta TestNet is planned to launch and smart contracts on NEO TestNet will be integrated with a centralized oracle network.

In Quarter 2 of 2019, the Block Sports Exchange beta release is scheduled to occur, with operational smart contracts and a centralized oracle network.

In Quarter 3 of 2019, the team aims to release the full Block Sports Exchange on the NEO MainNet, with full use of GAS to place bets.

Public Token Sale

The Block Sports public token sale is tentatively planned to take place in September of 2018. The team is seeking to raise $5.48 million USD in its token sale, and will only accept contributions in the form of NEO.

A total of 16,000,000 BSX tokens will be created and will be allocated accordingly:

  • 70% for pre-sale and public token sale
  • 20% reserved
  • 10% for the project team

There are two token sale tiers: a pre-sale and a public token sale. A lottery will be held to randomly select individuals who might be given access to partake in the pre-sale.

The pre-sale seeks to raise $480,000 (1,200,000 BSX) at a price of $0.40 per BSX token.

The public token sale seeks to raise $5,000,000 (10,000,000 BSX) at a price of $0.50 per BSX token.

Block Sports aims to begin the Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) whitelisting process in the near future. Participants will be required to provide personal information, government identification, and a photograph to ensure KYC/AML compliance. Interested parties can sign up to Block Sports’ mailing list for updates, which can be done so at the link below:

https://www.getdrip.com/forms/584321624/submissions

To learn more about Block Sports visit the links below.

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