Underdog turns to Zerohash for round-the-clock crypto funding

Underdog plans to let eligible prediction-market customers fund their accounts directly with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins through an integration with Zerohash, expanding deposits beyond conventional payment methods. The feature is expected to arrive later this year, with the Zerohash integration designed to move money into accounts near instantly, around the clock.

The partnership was announced Oct. 22 at the NEXTPredict NYC Summit in New York. It will operate within the Underdog app and is intended to allow deposits during evenings and weekends, when conventional fiat payment rails may be unavailable.

The new option will supplement debit and credit cards, Apple Pay and bank transfers. Underdog has not identified the cryptocurrencies or stablecoins it will support, but users will not need to manage wallet addresses or select blockchain networks when making a deposit.

Arthik Adla, Underdog's head of payments, said stablecoins and on-chain assets offered customers greater choice and speed. Zerohash chief revenue officer Adam Tesan said prediction markets do not close and that stablecoins can move money globally 24 hours a day.

Access will be limited to eligible users, and Zerohash said its products may not be available in all jurisdictions, including New York. Crypto and stablecoin holdings in the relevant accounts will not have FDIC or SIPC insurance protection.

The funding rollout follows Underdog's July 18 launch of its own prediction-market platform. The company said its exchange gave it a complete prediction-market licensing stack wholly owned and operated by Underdog, covering a Designated Contract Market, a Derivatives Clearing Organization and a Futures Commission Merchant.

Prediction-market products, also called event contracts, have existed in US regulated markets for more than two decades, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Such contracts typically take a yes-or-no form, usually pay a fixed $1 and expire at a set time or when an event concludes. CFTC-regulated exchanges and intermediaries are subject to application, examination and market-integrity rules, while futures commission merchants that intermediate customer trades must comply with customer-protection rules concerning customer funds.

The move comes as Underdog's customer base overlaps with crypto users. An October IG Group announcement found that 46% of Underdog customers had traded cryptocurrencies previously, while 42% preferred to fund an Underdog wallet with crypto. IG Group agreed in July to acquire Underdog for up to $1.3 billion, with closing expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

Underdog logged $1.4 billion in trading volume in the 30 days through Oct. 21, up 133% from the preceding period, according to DeFiRate data cited by Cointelegraph. That was below the comparison volumes reported for Kalshi, at $81.5 billion, and Polymarket's combined US and international operations, at $17.2 billion.

Across the sector, TRM Labs estimated that monthly prediction-market volume rose from roughly $1.2 billion in early 2025 to more than $20 billion in January, with more than 800,000 monthly active unique wallets. An Artemis snapshot dated Oct. 23 put volume over the preceding year at about $400 billion, with sports contracts accounting for 42.7% and cryptocurrency-related contracts 14.6%.