We often hear about the buzzword “decentralization,” especially from crypto and blockchain projects. Indeed, a “decentralized project” or “dApp” transforms into a “web3 project” at some point, and as I recall, it might have been the time when NFTs were popular. I wonder whether this was because NFT projects were less decentralized and weighed more toward exclusivity and community.
At UBET Sports, we use the two terms interchangeably, yet we prefer “decentralization” over “web3”. We feel that decentralization has a more profound philosophy, where the blockchain started with the ideology of rebelling against centralized authorities. If the world had started as a decentralized system, maybe the community would have advocated more for centralization. Just to be clear, we are not advocating for one side and believe that both have pros and cons. However, when it comes to sports betting, we stand on the side of decentralization!
Having a fully decentralized app (DApp) is ideal. What does this mean? A couple of requirements that we can think of are:
- Blockchains must be decentralized. I.e., the consensus algorithm must be fair, and equity needs to be dispersed.
- Non-custodial. I.e., users connect to the blockchain directly using their wallet, and transactions happen directly on the blockchain.
- The computations for your applications are on-chain.
- The smart contract interacts with world data through oracles.
- Initial deployment needs to remain unbiased or anonymous.
Satisfying all of the above isn’t an easy process. Developing an algorithm for a dApp can often be more challenging than for regular apps. For example, imagine dealing poker hands without a dealer in a fair way. Let’s say we define tiers for decentralization based on the satisfaction of the above properties, and then work towards creating a complete dApp.
So how about UBET Sports? Our platform is now on the Mumbai testnet but will be on Polygon soon! Of course, it is non-custodial. You can connect to UBET smart contracts using MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Magic Link (email sign-up). Unlike other web3 sports betting platforms where the fixed odds are determined internally (outside of a blockchain), UBET leverages its own AMM to determine the odds within the blockchain. Remember that the code for smart contracts deployed on blockchains is available to the public! Together, this demonstrates the transparency of the internal processes of the platform and ensures the integrity of the UBET sportsbook.
Currently, the market creations are triggered internally to deploy the smart contracts, and the settlement results are pushed to smart contracts from outside of the blockchain. Nevertheless, we plan to eventually have a sports oracle to trigger market creation and settlements!
The platform will evolve into an open sports betting system that is secure and transparent to users. The bettors can just enjoy themselves without worrying about sportsbook authorities like
- Banning
- Bet limits
- Poor Odds / Prices
- Poor product experience, especially when live betting
- Slow payout process
Feel free to try out our platform at ubetsports.io. Your support and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Website: https://ubetsports.io/ App: https://app.ubetsports.io/ LinkTree: linktr.ee/ubet_sports