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Novig Raises $75M Series B to Pursue Nationwide Sports Exchange Licence

The commission-free sports prediction exchange raised $75M in a Series B round and filed for a CFTC Designated Contract Market licence that would unlock all 50 US states.

Novig, the peer-to-peer sports betting exchange that charges zero bookmaker vig, announced a $75 million Series B round in February 2026, bringing its total funding to over $90 million. The round was led by existing investors and new institutional backers drawn to the exchange model's structural advantage over traditional sportsbooks.

The key strategic move accompanying the raise: Novig filed for a CFTC Designated Contract Market (DCM) licence. Obtaining a DCM licence (the same regulatory tier held by Kalshi and the CME) would allow Novig to operate in all 50 US states, up from the 35+ states covered by its current state-by-state sports betting licence approach. Kalshi's path from launch to DCM status took roughly three years; Novig's filing signals an ambition to follow the same playbook.

"We're building the most price-efficient sports market in the world," said Novig's CEO in the funding announcement. "A DCM licence is the infrastructure that gets us there at scale." The exchange model, which matches bettors peer-to-peer rather than booking risk against a house, delivers the equivalent of a 4–8% return that sportsbooks typically extract via margin.

What it means for US bettors: If Novig secures DCM status, it would join Kalshi as one of only two federally-regulated prediction market exchanges available in all 50 states. The commission-free model (Novig's current revenue comes from data and other sources rather than trading fees) would remain a powerful differentiator for sharp bettors who have been limited or banned at traditional sportsbooks.

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IG Group, the UK-listed financial trading platform, has agreed to acquire Underdog for approximately $1.3 billion — 13 days after Underdog launched its own CFTC-licensed exchange. The deal gives IG Group a US designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization, making it the first international financial firm to acquire a licensed US prediction market venue. Underdog is currently the third-largest US prediction market by regulated notional volume, behind Kalshi and Robinhood.

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The Group of Copenhagen — the Council of Europe's independent match manipulation watchdog — raised seven yellow notices for potential betting irregularities during the 2026 World Cup, in direct contradiction to FIFA's own Integrity Task Force, which published an all-clear on Tuesday. The most troubling finding involves Polymarket: the platform opened a market on July 2 asking whether Folarin Balogun would play against Belgium — the same day Balogun received a red card and three days before FIFA publicly confirmed his ban was suspended. No equivalent markets were opened for any of the other 14 red cards shown at the tournament.

After Yesterday's Hearing, Congress Looks Ready to Legislate on Prediction Markets — Not Just Watch

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