Crypto.com quietly discloses that customers will face three-second delay on sports wagers

Crypto.com has confirmed that customers will experience a three-second delay when placing wagers on sports games, offering some an advantage over others.
Crypto.com has revealed in its terms and conditions that customers will face a three-second delay when wagering on the outcome of sports games, to prevent ‘courtsiding.’ This delay will not apply to market makers on the exchange, giving them a potential advantage if they’re reacting in real time. That’s especially likely for those who are present at a game, who already have a time advantage over those watching on broadcast delay.
This echoes a recent filing to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from fellow prediction market Kalshi that would allow it to similarly place delays on certain wagers. This filing doesn’t specify which customers would be subject to the delay or how long it could be.
Crypto.com is one of just a few prediction markets that can offer regulated sports event contracts, although it’s still facing opposition in Nevada. Prediction markets like it have exploded in recent months, in no small part due to interest in sports event contracts in states where sports betting is not allowed.
The impact of a wagering delay on prediction markets
After building up an audience of users interested in sporting contracts, such delays could push prediction markets towards the same reputation as equities and derivatives exchanges have dealt with in the past. Namely, users would see that preference is being given to market traders, especially in a field like sports betting, where events and circumstances can change rapidly.
While the delay is designed to protect market traders who are not at sports games from receiving delayed information, it also puts anyone who’s not at a game in person at a disadvantage. In practice, it will most likely benefit big betting firms and traders the most.
ReadWrite has reached out to Crypto.com and Kalshi for further comment.
Featured image: Crypto.com
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NBA players to get greater biometric data through Orreco and Sportradar deal

The company which provides bio-analytics solutions for athletes, Orreco, will now officially integrate NBA tracking data from Sportradar.
Sportradar is the official data partner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its real-time player tracking and event data will now be used to help NBA teams optimize training loads, accelerate recovery, and support long-term physical wellbeing for athletes.

We’ve teamed up with @Orreco1 to bring @NBA player tracking & event data into their AI-powered athlete performance platform, delivering deeper, science-backed insights that boost athlete availability and deliver peak performance.
Read more: https://t.co/3DgxSiiDDK pic.twitter.com/xQLDTlkmNk
— Sportradar (@Sportradar) December 9, 2025

According to the announcement about the agreement, Orrecco is the first high-performance company to utilize NBA player tracking data in this manner. It’ll also generate even more informative and science-based insights into athlete performance to help coaches, medical practitioners and trainers make more informed data-driven decisions.
Speaking on the new deal, the vice president of account management at Sportradar, Brian Josephs, said: “We are pleased to enter into this agreement with one of the foremost innovators advancing the future of performance intelligence in basketball.
“This agreement highlights the critical role of official NBA data in driving the future of basketball from on court insights and athlete performance to fan experience.”
Science-based insights to further help NBA players and coaches
Sportradar has been an official partner of the NBA for some years now, with the company being the authorized global distributor of official betting data and the distributor of live game video that is available to international sports betting operators for fans to experience in real time.
Now, this new agreement has been signed, but the length of the deal isn’t known.
The CEO and co-founder of Orreco, Dr Brian Moore, explained their work: “The demands on NBA players have never been greater.
“Over the past decade we’ve been supporting elite teams and players at the highest level of world sport to optimize their training, accelerate their recovery and prolong their careers, and the addition of real-time NBA player tracking and event data from Sportradar will only enhance that work.
“We have already found interesting patterns that we are sharing with our clients in the league to support their decision making and help them win.”
Featured Image: Sportradar
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Evoke launches strategic review exploring possible group sale or breakup after budget tax rises

Evoke Plc has begun a formal review of its future direction as pressure grows in the UK gambling industry, with newly announced tax hikes and planned store reductions by one of its major brands adding to the strain.
In a statement, the company said: “[The] board of directors of the Company confirms it has decided to undertake a review of the Company’s strategic options, which will include the consideration of a range of potential alternatives to maximise shareholder value, including, but not limited to a potential sale of the Group, or some of the Company’s assets and/or business units.”
The Gibraltar registered group, which owns brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, has appointed Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and Rothschild & Co as joint financial advisers. The board stressed that “there is no certainty that any transaction will materialise, nor as to the terms of any transaction.”
Evoke announces review of potential sale after UK Budget changes
The strategic review comes after the recent UK Budget, where the government revealed it will raise duties on gambling operators. These higher taxes are set to increase operating costs for companies with a large UK presence beginning in 2026.
Earlier this year, William Hill said it plans to close about one in ten of its UK betting shops in 2026, pointing to changing customer habits and a tougher regulatory and economic climate. The move will shrink the brand’s presence on the high street and highlights the wider shift toward online betting.
Evoke stated that further updates will be provided “when and if appropriate”. The company also reminded investors that, because it is incorporated in Gibraltar, “The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the Code) does not apply to the Company… a takeover offer for the Company will not be regulated by the UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers.”
The review signals what could be a major period of change for the group, although it’s still unclear where things will end up. Possibilities like selling assets, restructuring the business or even a full takeover are all on the table, but nothing has been decided yet.
ReadWrite has reached out to evoke Plc for comment.
Featured image: evoke Plc
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Washington bans prediction markets as ‘increased interest’ in event-based contracts spikes

Washington State has banned prediction markets as interest in the platforms ramps up across the United States.
The Washington State Gambling Commission has officially banned prediction markets across the state, prohibiting either offering events-based contracts or participating with online operators that offer event-based contracts for purchase. That puts the onus on both users and operators to stop any related activity in Washington.
“Offering events-based contracts or participating in these markets is not authorized in Washington State,” reads the statement from the Washington State Gambling Commission.
“While prediction markets are an unauthorized activity in Washington State, we acknowledge that the future of prediction markets, including those for sports, political events, remains a subject of ongoing litigation both federally and in other states.
“We will continue to monitor the ongoing cases as they progress through the court system and will provide updates once the courts provide further guidance.”
The Commission went on to state that any Washington residents who want to gamble on sports should do so at tribal casinos, where sports betting is legally authorized.
Is the door closed to prediction markets in Washington?
With the Gambling Commission’s note that it will “continue to monitor the ongoing cases”, it seems that Washington intends to follow other states’ leads when it comes to authorizing prediction markets. The line between events contracts and gambling is getting increasingly blurred, especially as major players like Kalshi continue to push into traditional fields like sports betting.
Washington has a history of protecting tribal groups’ exclusive gambling rights, as evidenced in a case earlier this year. At the same time, other states like Nevada and Connecticut are cracking down on prediction markets, with some government bodies and gambling groups viewing them as a means to circumvent traditional gambling regulations. As more newcomers join the ever-growing sector of prediction markets, the competition is likely to only heat up further.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Committee Chair Walberg presses sports unions for answers on illegal gambling scandals

US Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg has sent letters to several sports organizations in the wake of illegal sports gambling schemes involving professional athletes.
Walberg sent queries to various organizations on Tuesday (December 9), including the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA), and the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), asking how they are working to support players in the wake of various illegal sports gambling schemes.

Sports betting is booming and illegal gambling schemes are on the rise. It’s simple: Illegal schemes shred fair competition, hurting betters who follow the law and exposing athletes to extortion.
Chairman @RepWalberg sent letters to the heads of 5 pro athletes unions to get more… pic.twitter.com/3bF0vltdGR
— House Committee on Education & Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) December 9, 2025

Many of these illegal rings involved professional athletes, including a high-profile NBA case and instances involving student athletes. Concerns around players’ involvement in illegal sports gambling has already led to some organizations putting pressure on their members to maintain integrity, but now external forces like the Education and Workforce Committee are stepping in too.
Pressure is mounting to take action against illegal sports gambling schemes
“Recent instances highlight the alarming rise in proprietary information sharing to benefit certain gamblers,” wrote Walberg.
“These actions eviscerate the integrity of sports and hurt honest, law-abiding athletes. The Committee understands the important role of players’ associations in educating individuals on illegal sports betting practices and seeks to understand how you can better ensure proper conduct among players to safeguard free and fair competition.”
The letter goes on to make direct mention of the NBA case involving former Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones, as well that related to two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.
“In light of these and other similar scandals, the Committee seeks information from the NFLPA to understand what steps it is taking to ensure the athletes it serves are protected from these unethical actions,” the letter continued. “By no later than January 31, 2026, the Committee kindly requests that the NFLPA provide information on what actions it has taken or plans to take to curtail players from using proprietary information to skew sports betting.”
ReadWrite has reached out to the NFLPA, the MLBPA, the NBPA, the NHLPA, and the MLSPA for further comment.
Featured image: US Education and Workforce Committee via X
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Nvidia refutes report that China’s DeepSeek is using its banned Blackwell AI chips

The U.S. has blocked the export of Nvidia’s Blackwell chips to China in an effort to stay ahead in the AI race.

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‘Greetings, earthlings’: Nvidia-backed Starcloud trains first AI model in space as orbital data center race heats up

The company’s Starcloud-1 satellite is running Gemma, an open model from Google, marking the first time in history that an LLM has been trained in outer space.

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Former GitLab CEO raises money for Kilo to compete in crowded AI coding market

Kilo Code, which makes a vibe coding extension, was founded by former GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij.

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Porn company starts new age checks after £1m Ofcom fine

The media regulator Ofcom said AVS Group Ltd had started age checks on some of its porn websites.

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VITAS Healthcare Breach Exposes 319K Patient Records

Hackers maintained undetected access to patient systems for over a month, methodically downloading personal and medical information.
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